Sincerely, the stranger you call brother
by Azumiya Satsuki
Summary: Karma knows one thing. Having an older sibling is no fun. But if that older sibling is actually a genius, school's idol, the student council president and secretly a mother hen, things could get hilarious. Especially if no one knew. Or rather, only if no one knew. Because if anyone was to find out they were anything more than schoolmates, everything would break. /Angst, Fluff/
1. Chapter 1

**Alright everyone, I firstly warn you of the possible grammar mistakes that await you in this story. Please bear with it, I am still learning English :D**

 **My name is Satsuki, I am sixteen years old and I love Ansatsu kyoushitsu (especially KARMA). I think that's enough.**

 **Secondly, this fanfic is kind of AU because Asano and Karma are brothers but for some reason (which you are going to find out) they must keep it a secret.**

 **This is going to be mostly fluff and angst and maybe it will follow the storyline of the original anime/manga. Though I will surely change some things. Or add some. Still not sure about that - I never think ahead XD (There might even be a complete nonsense)**

 **I don't know what got into me - I just felt like writing this. However, I'm afraid I won't be able to update within 2/3 days like before. I hope you guys like it and please tell me your opinon about this story!**

 **Just to make sure no one's cofused: The first few chapters will be flashbacks from one year ago when our main characters were in second years. So Karma's not in the E class yet.**

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Asano's P.O.V.

He was late.

It was 15:07 now and I still didn't see anyone coming. Usually, both of us met at this secluded place, hiden to everyone, at exactly three p.m. Without fail. Could he be having some troubles? Or was he being followed? Not sure of what to do, I took out my phone to see if there was any message from him. None. So I already wanted to write him myself.

However, as I started typing the letters, I got a glimse of red and immediately put the gadget back into my pocket, searching for the boy with my eyes.

And there he was - with a cut on his cheek and bruise on an arm. I couldn't see the bruise but judging from the way he let the limb down instead of putting it into his pocket, I could guess that it hurt to even move it.

"Karma," I walked towards him, examinating every part of his body for the any other injuries. "What the hell did you do? Another fight?!"

The boy just 'tch'ed and wiped the blood away. "They were picking on senpai so I just stood up for him."

"Who they?! What senpai? And anyway, did you have to fight again? I told you many times not to do stupid things." I sighed, taking out a handkerchief and some band aids. This little idiot always gets himself hurt so I keep it for sure.

"I saw some assholes bullying a third year from class E so I went there and beat the shit out of them."

"Watch your language, kid." I scolded him while putting the band aid on the side of his face.

"I am not a kid," he tried to grunt but didn't manage to as I was in the control of his facial muscles right now (I mean I was holding his face).

"You are one year younger than me."

"Theoretically not since I am in the same year as you."

"Skipping grades doesn't make you older. " And I patted his head to emphasize the height difference (seven centimeters).

Knowing that he won't win this argument, he gave up: "Touché,"

Having finished treating the wound, I narrowed eyebrows and flicked the latter on the forehead. He whined and started rubbing the spot which was now turning red.

"Who were the bullies? I mean which class," the very fact that he fought for a member of class E made me uneasy. His answer, however, made me feel something close to terror:

"Class A," the redhead mumbled, aware of how I would react.

Closing my eyes, I started out with a serious tone: "Speaking of shit, you just got into some."

"Wow, how did you figure that out, mister Know-it-all?" Now, that was a reason for me to spank him. Such an insolent kid. Rebellious and violent to that. I guess the lack of supervision influenced him to the bad.

"You know your teacher or even the chairman is going to punish you for that," I said as we sat down on the grass.

Just by the way, this place was in the middle of forest which was easy to get in but hard to get out. That's exactly why we have chosen it. No one would ever dare to step into it, let alone go this deep in. Me and Karma are an exception though, as memorizing the way here was a piece of cake. Actually, we have memorized the whole forest.

And as for why we had to take such measurements - It was simple. We couldn't afford to let anyone find out about our blood relation. Not the students, the teachers and most certainly not our father. This was a complicated matter so for now, I will put that aside.

"Suspension at worst," my younger brother nodded, lying down. "But you know, Ono-sensei is a good person. He said that he would be on my side if I were right. And I were - bullying weaker ones is ridiculous. If they want to pick a fight, why don't they choose someone strong?"

Dear God, this idiot was too childish and naive. First of all, that's just how this school works. Actually, this system is very effective and to look down on the failures - wasn't it fun?

Either way, that Ono-sensei of his was obviously just a fake who made use of the situation. Karma is violent and uncontrollable but he is a genius. Even though he is barely thirteen - no one knows that by the way - he understands all of the stuff for fourteen years olds (me) and even further. We had it in genes, probably. Karma might just have been able to take over my rank number one in the school if he tried harder. But he won't because he is an arrogant, lazy ass.

Anyway, back to the subject - Karma was a wonderful way for that teacher to make himself a good name, having "brought up" a student with such terrific academical success.

"You shouldn't rely on that teacher. He doesn't sound trustworthy to me."

But the boy shook his head: "I trust him, he always supports me."

Well that was some surprise. He has never trusted anyone else besides me. And it kind of hurt my pride.

"Do you doubt my words?"

"No, I just believe in my own opinion and feelings. That's what you taught me, wasn't it?"

"I regret teaching you that. You would be much more obedient if I didn't." Saying that in a joking manner, I ruffled his hair.

Ah, this was so relaxing. Not having to be the strict, perfect council president. Not having to stay on guard. Or to pretend that I didn't see or even know my own brother.

"Hey, Asan-" Karma called me but I stopped him before he could say anything else.

"Cut the surname thing. We are alone now,"

And there it was. That smug, plotting grin.

"Yeah, right, _onii-chan_ ," He said with a sweet, playful tone. I made a disgusted grimase, feeling very sick. That was most definitely _not_ what I meant.

"Ahaha, sorry. Should I call you Gakushu-nii if you insist on me being polite and respectful to my older brother? Or Gaku-niichan to make it more affectionate?"

Bleh.

Poking his side (he was ticklish), I teased him. "Only if you wish to be called Karma-chan from now on,"

"Eh, it's making me want to throw up." Exactly.

And the two of us joined a staring contest. I don't know how but it turned out into a tickling war.

It has always been like this - me taking care of his health, he taking care of my sanity (now, it's not that easy to live under pressure with a gruesome father, is it?) and the two of us half-heartedly talking.

It was something we could never afford to do if we weren't together and alone. If we hadn't lied to everyone else - even our parents.

To summerize - dad and mom divorced when I was six and Karma five. They literally went after each other's neck. That having been decided by judges, the chairman (father) got me into his care and Karma stayed with mother. Though at that time, Karma's name was different.

We promised each other to stay in touch, secretly, and until now, we did so. In order to fulfill that promise, he had to get into the same school as me. As I was forced by the chairman to attend his school, he followed me.

And here's where the problem lies - if the chairman knew that Karma was his second son, who knows how he would react? Taking into account that he hated mother, he would probably make the boy's life living hell.

I tried convincing him to go somewhere else, but - kids. And Karma escpecially. He didn't take a 'no' for answer and applied anyway.

About the names - father didn't know the name Akabane - it was our mother's lover surname. For some reason, he didn't mind taking 'Akabane' but he despised his initial name given by mother. So he stuck with the thought up name Karma for ten years. To be honest, I liked it better too.

I think that more or less explains the situation. Nobody knows of this big lie of ours - mother is always overseas and we have been hiding this from father. Karma skipped one year to be in the same class as me, took exams to this school to be with me, learned Latin so that we would be able to speak with each other when needed (hardly anyone knows Latin so it was a perfect choice). Well, that was all many years ago when he was still a nice, (kind of if you didn't count the violence - he has always loved fighting. Though I do too.) innocent and cute kid.

He grew up into a rebellious shit.

 _(I actually remember how respectfully and affectionately he looked up to me?! Like he was all 'Gakushu-nii! Show me this! Let's go there! You are so amazing!' And now it's like: 'Fuck yourself, I'm gonna have it my own way"_

 _Like... What the hell?!)_

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 **Okay, that's the end of chapter one!**

 **I know, I know, it's super lame and and boring and eeeeeeh. I'm sorry, I don't know how to write it, I'm actually such a bad writer. Seriously.**

 **But that does in no way mean I'm stop with this. Once I get something into my head, I can't stop XD**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, I got too excited and started writing this at one a.m., ditching homework XD Today I just finished it and now I'm uploading it. You know when you get too easily excited but also too easily discouraged? Yeah, that's me.**

 **Anyways, I didn't expect that much of reaction just from one chapter O.O I mean, thank you so much, I love you and okay, I won't call it shit anymore XD Though sometimes it feels like one!**

 **Please enjoy this (fluffy) chapter!**

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Karma's P.O.V.

Gakushu said he would go home with me and stay there until six. The chairman was allegedly going to be out of the town for two days - so it wasn't a problem. And his stepmother - she was like a dead bug, not voicing out or questioning anything. So she couldn't care less about the teen returning later.

Really, this worrywart. I could fend for myself just fine - I had learned cooking long ago and taking care of cuts and bruises - that's how I grew up. But I was kind of glad that he suggested it. It has been quite lonely in here lately.

"Go take put some ice on the bruise, I will prepare dinner," The strawberry blond ordered as we entered the vacant house I lived in. I didn't bother to say 'I'm home' since nobody was there to welcome me back.

"Is there something you don't see?" I was reffering to the bruise - it was hidden under my sleeves so how come he knew?

Sending me an annoyed look, he answered: "I can't see why you have become such a pain in the bottom part of a body."

We walked to the kitchen. The first thing he did was hand me an ice pack.

"Haha, keeping that polite and diplomatic attititude even now?" yeah, the chairman didn't let him spurt out anything of such low manner after all. But hey, we were alone now. We could be behaving however we wanted and not give any shit.

Gakushu ignored me, now opening fridge to get the ingredients for meal. He seemed irritated by what he saw - well, I haven't been out for groceries for quite a long time now. Deciding that he would somehow manage with a lettuce and tomato, he took out a knife and started cutting the vegetable.

"Come on, you love this 'pain in bottom part of a body' anyway, don't you?" I playfully asked, titling my head and staring into his violet eyes. Violet and gold, those were the colours of kings, no?

"Yeah, yeah. Now get your ass on a chair and stop bothering me. I don't want to cut myself and then massacre you if I snap."

Grinning, I sat down. It always amazed me how different he was at school and with me. In that place, he was polite but intimidating when angered, with me he was rude as hell and fun to joke with. Though he was still strict af and liked to dote me.

I observed my (unfortunately) older brother. This was such a nostalgic sight. The first time Gakushu came to this house and made me a meal was when we were seven and six. I could more or less cook by then (It was edible but tasteless. What would you expect from a six years old?) but the latter insisted.

It was in winter if I remembered right. The chairman wasn't going to return home until midnight and Gakushu got fed up with being with that stupid stepmom-servant and decided to visit me.

"Gaku-nii," calling him like that at the time, I gaped at the boy standing before the doors, almost freezed to bone and covered in snow. "Wh-what are you doing here?!"

Knowing that nobody was home, he came in and simply stated: "I will be staying here for a while,"

With that, I handed him a blanket and both of us sat by the heater. We chatted about what has happened, how we felt and what we wanted to do. That was also when we decided to meet up in secret either in a forest or at my place (Since mother and her lover were rarely home. And if they did return, I would always message him about that.) Also, he suggested that we learn a language which only we will be able to understand.

It came in handy as even the chairman didn't know Latin.

Since then, he often stayed with me and we took turns cooking. Gakushu would tell his friends he was going home early to buy some books or that he was going to a library. The chairman didn't really care so it was working just fine. And anyway, that man never returned before seven p.m. Oh and to make sure no one would reckognize him, Gakushu always brought a jumper with hood with him and wore it when going in and out of my house.

Pfff. He looked ridiculous in hoods. Unlike the handsome me.

"Karma! Stop spacing out or I'm going to spill this into your face. And I assure you third degree burns are not pleasant." Suddenly, the male stood before me with a bowl of the most simple food in the world.

"Seriously? No meat? I'm going to die from hunger you know." faking a pout, I objected.

The blond was giving me a glare: "That's a punishment. For getting into fight and not buying grocceries."

"You could have gone get it," playing a sulking kid, I crossed my arms.

"Why didn't you do that?"

"Making an injured person run an errand? How heartless."

"Making your _elder_ brother run an errand? How cheeky."

And we burned each other with eyes, not saying anything for a whole minute.

"Get the fuck out of my way, this is heavy," the idiot finally gave up and averted his eyes. I internally grinned.

"Eeh? But I am getting sleepy, I think I'm gonna take a nap now-"

Losing his temper, he lifted his leg to kick me. I could literally see the murderous aura around him and the violet orbs were getting dark too. However, I had good reflexes from all the street fight. Catching the leg with my hands, I laughed: "Now, now, that's dangerous, you know, _nii-chan_."

"I'm going to kill you," my brother hissed.

"Try if you can," and with that, he put the bowl back on the kitchen stove and ran after me. I did my best to avoid getting hurt anymore so all I did was run away.

Ahaha. Ha. Ha...

I might have overdone it.

"You little shit!" He grabbed my shirt and as I tried to jerk away, both of us stumbled and he fell on me. Oh damn, I was pinned down to the ground. Analyzing the situation, I came to this conclusion: I had two options - play dead or become dead.

Deciding to go with the former, I closed my eyes and pretended to be unconsciouss. I was pretty sure it would work because no matter how pissed off he Gakushu got, he still cared. How considerate.

"Karma..." my brother seethed and lifted himself from me. I don't know how he looked as I was playing dead but judging from the long pause, he was probably confused.

"Hey, idiot." his voice started souding worried. "Hey, what's wrong?" he slightly slapped my cheek. Ouch.

I did my best to hold back the urge to laugh my ass off.

"Karma!" He was now shaking me. I took advantage of Gakushu letting down his guard, grabbed his arm and shoved him under, with me now pinning the elder boy down.

"I won," giggling, I declared.

Gakushu's face changed from surprise to realization, relief and then displeasure: "You shitfaced dumbass. And here I thought you hit your head and fainted." He sighed, relaxing his body in the 'I surrender' way. "That was a dirty trick." The way he looked made me feel a little bit guilty. I guess scaring him like this wasn't the best idea.

"Sorry, I-" but before I could finish that, he did the same thing as me just a while ago.

Now I was down again with the strawberry blond above and victorious smile on lips: "Who is it that won?"

He was strong. But I have learnt how to cope with stronger opponents. Lifting my hips, Gakushu's balance shifted to the front and with that, I threw him off me so we were now lying two meters from each other.

"I guess it's a draw," I wasn't really satisfied with the results but as my body still hurt, fighting any more would be unwise. Especially with my older brother - he was a quite a monster both in psychical abilites and in studies.

We helped each other stand up and returned back to the kitchen.

* * *

The food was cold and far from sufficient. I mean, how could you survive without meat?! The oh so awesome meat?! But, you see, eating it with him, it tasted better than anything else.

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 **I don't know what this is supposed to be - I just wrote it for the sake of writing it. I thought it would be nice. Please tell me if it's sucking the life out of you (sorry for this again XD)!**

 **Well, until the next chapter, see ya!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello, everyone! I'm back with another chapter! Thank you all for liking this story, for writing your opinion! I really appreaciate it and it feels really wonderful T.T**

 **Looks like you reaaaally like the fluff! Don't worry, there's going to be plenty of it!**

 **I'm sorry if I don't update soon - this week is going to be tough. I have an exam which I should have had a month to study for but our teacher forgot to tell us -.- God help me.**

 **Enough of complaints, here it is!**

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Asano's P.O.V.

It was morning. I came down the stairs to the kitchen, greeted my stepmother Hana who as always silently made food.

Did I mention how the relationship in this 'family' worked? The chairman was the dictator, this woman his slave or servant, call it whatever you want, and I... well, I wondered what I was to him. A tool? Toy for killing time? Or was I supposed to play the role of revolutionist?

Anyway, he was out of the town (though today he will return) and I had no need to stay on guard. Eating my breakfast, Karma got into my mind. Was he having breakfast too? Or was he still sleeping, having decided to ditch some periods? This idiot was such a trouble. If only he tried a little harder and stopped being so irresponsible!

When I finished, I packed up a large bento for lunch as usual (because the idiot either buys convenience store food or skips meals). Eggs with vegetables, rice, fish, fruit - nothing missing. A perfectly balanced meal.

The way to school was silent. I liked it this way as there was no one to nag me about every stupid thing. The girls in the class - brainwashed and intoxicated by my being perfect, the boys all immersed in some stupid games and films. _What do you think about this model? Have you heard of the new 3D version of 'Domination'?_ _Did you see the latest episode of _ yesterday?_ No, I don't give much shit about some models. Yes, I have heard of Domination because you guys keep repeating that word every fucking second. Of course I didn't see the episode, I don't freaking care and really want to punch you in the face but can't since it would ruin my reputation of perfect council president.

Now that was frustrating.

And yet I got along with everyone just wonderfully.

Karma once asked why I need to be so flawless. Such a stupid question - to be superiour to everyone else, to be admired, respected, feared and loved by everyone. Who wouldn't want that? And besides, I had that competitious side of me that couldn't stand not being the best.

Sometimes I wonder if we really are brothers. The redhead is the complete oposite. He doesn't have the need to show his blades, he doesn't mind his language or attitue, he does whatever he wants. Exams? He will ace them. Fights? He will win them. Without any real effort. But to, for example, wake up exactly at seven and go to school without ditching a single period? Impossible.

Even though I didn't like how he acted, maybe I was a little jealous. I mean, I couldn't afford to be like that even if I wanted. I was the principal's son after all, the prodigy. It would make a bad name both for him and me and that would more or less lead to my death.

First lesson was Japanese. We read poems and explained which lines meant what and so on. It was all so easy and boring I wanted to sleep. But I couldn't.

The break between first and second period I spent by messaging my younger brother.

 _To: Lazy shit_

 _Subject: That's an order_

 _Text: Where are you? I haven't seen you in your class yet! Get your ass there._

And send. I found it quite amazing that even latin had cuss words. Just to be clear - cell phones are not safe. More so emails or texts. Even if they are deleted, there is always a way to restore them and read them. That's why this language thing was so important.

Now I just had to survive through five tedious lessons and then I could meet him in private.

Number three - Math. Easy. Maybe a little fun.

Number four - Home ecs. Simple to me but dangerous to some others.

Number five - Science. Kind of fun.

Number six - PE. Good way to get my head off stupid things. Like where the hell was Karma. I haven't seen him yet and to be honest, I had a bad feeling.

And finally, lunch break and the end. Normally we would have afternoon classes but today one of the teachers was absent so we could go home. Karma has one lesson after lunch break so I will have to wait. Until then, I could eat the food.

Talking of the redhead, I realized that I haven't checked my phone for three hours so I did, awaiting a message. None.

Frowning, I dialed the his number. Karma would know right away that it was me since both of us set a certain tone for the other one's call. It took five long rings for him to pick up.

 _"Where are you?"_ I asked silently even though I knew no one would understand and that no one was looking.

There was a small pause before giving me a reply: _"Leave me alone for now,"_ hearing the gritted teeth, I froze. Did something happen? It seems my suspicion wasn't unreasonable.

" _What are you doing?"_ I demanded an answer. He should know that I wouldn't be brushed off that easily. _"What's wrong?"_

Silence. He didn't say a thing and I didn't have to be a genius to know that he had no intention of telling me. Considering that that, I tried to pick up the basic information of his hiding spot. Not at school, that I was sure of. I didn't hear cars or people talking so it was a secluded place. Somewhere that only he knew. Maybe me too. A faint sound of wind, trees fizzing. And I a certain place immediately flashed into my mind.

 _"I'm going to find you and beat it out of you, my dear little brother."_ And with that, I took my stuff and walked out of the school. As soon as I was sure no one would see me, I started running towards where the redhead supposedly was. And the destination? We had a mountain in the town - that's where class E is situated by the way. Karma liked climbing halfway up and then disappearing into the wild, sitting on a cliff and enjoying the view. I didn't like that place, it stinked of failure of the E class and it was dangerous.

It took me around fifteen minutes to get there and as I thought, my younger brother was sitting on the edge, spaced out with a dark expression.

Silently walking towards him so that he wouldn't notice my presence, I grabbed his colar and dragged him away from the brink, ignoring the violent way he protested. Kicking, shouting, confused about what the hell was going on.

I stopped and threw the idiot at ground. He laid there for a good while and then abruptly sat up, turning at me with a confused face: "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!"

"YOU KNOW HOW HAZARDOUS IT IS TO SIT THERE YOU LITTLE SHIT?! YOU COULD SLIP AND THE ONLY THING LEFT OF YOU THEN WOULD BE A DIRTY STAIN! DO YOU WANT TO BE A DIRTY STAIN?! NO, YOU DON'T TO BE A DIRTY STAIN! NO ONE WANTS TO BE A DIRTY STAIN! AND IF YOU DON'T WANNA THINK OF YOURSELF THEN THINK OF THE ONES WHO WOULD HAVE TO CLEAN THAT!"

Karma sent me a glare and tried to defend himself: "First of all, nobody cleans a mountain!" he was right. "Secondly, I was completly safe!" he wasn't right.

"Fuck that safe of yours, I say it's dangerous and you will not go there again!" The kid just didn't understand anything. He did whatever he wanted without thinking of the consequences. Sure sometimes I was too doting but this case was reasonable, wasn't it.

"So? What has happened?" I asked, calming down and sitting down next to the boy despite how dirty the ground was. You see how much he meant to me? I even touched something so disgusting to put him at ease.

The redhead gritted his teeth, his mood drastically dropping. Was it something about yesterday? Did he get suspension? Or some punishment?

"You are going to kill me if I tell you," he whispered with face down. I would have sworn that he was ready to cry. Well, if he turned only thirteen not long ago after all.

"Tell me," I insisted, not believing that it could be so bad. Well, that was if he hadn't done something to 1/ my reputation, 2/ test results, 3/ relationship between schools and classmates. Because then I would indeed kill him.

He took his time to finally confess. And when he did, it turned out he was kind of right.

"I am going to class E starting next year,"

 **I would kill the one who decided that.**


	4. Chapter 4

**AAH I AM SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY! I said that I'm pretty busy this and the next week. God help me, I even considered smashing my head against the wall to get concussion and skip school XD Sorry, I'm not being a good example here.**

 **I'm happy you like the fluff XD It's especially pleasant to write about the overprotectiveness! If you guys have any ideas to make this any sweeter, tell me and I will consider writing it!**

 **About your questions:**

 **Guest: Yes, I know Karma is actually older. But in this fanfic, I liked the idea of Karma being younger since HE IS SO SWEET AND PERFECT AND HE'S THE REBELIOUS SHIT HERE whereas Asano acts more like an old geezer XD. And even if Asano was to be the little brother, he would have to be 2 years younger (considering their birth months) and it would be just too much for him to skip 2 grades :P**

 **VioletteWhest: I would be really happy if you drew it! I'm sorry for saying that I'm a bad writer all the time, but I seriously don't think I'm nowhere near as good as the others! (please don't kill me!)**

 **Btw, I don't ship anyone in this fanfiction, but the family love will be there! XD**

 **Anyway, here is the fourth chapter!**

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Asano's P.O.V.

I know I said that I would take care of it. That Karma would never go to class E.

And yet I couldn't do anything about it. Since the one who decided it was my father. He would sure as hell suspect something if I demanded to keep someone like Akabane who apparently had no connections to me and who was just a big trouble maker in class D.

Karma has been suspended until the end of school year and then a week after the start. He hasn't been doing much and apparently had no intention to. Since the day on that cliff, his mood has been seriously off. And I had a good idea as for why. He couldn't care less about the change of classes - he even supported the dropouts! I never understood why he did it - was it the satisfaction of being looked up to as their saviour? Or just the uncontrollable desire to fight? Either way, the only reason why he looked troubled about the suspension that was me and my reaction.

The real answer to the 'why he's so irritated' at the moment is that homeroom teacher of his. Didn't I say? He's a fake. Not trustworthy. Ono-sensei, was it? I will make sure to let make him feel some pain.

And now my little brother was moping about being betrayed. How foolish.

"Get your sorry ass out," I hissed, standing before his doors to the room. Although I have called his name four times already and knocked as crazy, the boy was not to listen to me any time soon.

"I'm serious, go out. What is it that you are hiding from? Me? The world? You can't escape, Karma."

And once again, I was given no response.

My eye started twitching.

"Alright, you're so done." And with that, I kicked the doors wide open, revealing a small bumb under sheets. Reaching it, I tried pulling the blankets away but they were in the clutches of my younger brother. He won't let go of it so easily it seems. But damn, that kid was strong.

"GET THE FUCK OUT," completly losing it, I snapped as the mission 'expose Karma' proved to be impossible.

The thing on bed didn't utter a single word but made a strange sound similar to whine. Did he really just whine? This tough kid with fierce eyes and sharp tongue?

"Show your stupid self or I'm seriously gonna get pissed off and you're not gonna like it, Karma." My voice came murderous and dangerously low.

The readhead however did not do as I said but at least replied: "Aren't you already?"

"Yes, because a certain kid doesn't-"

"I'm not talking about that."

That stopped me for a while. What did he mean then?

"Aren't you disappointed in me? Conflicted as for how to treat me from now on?"

"What the hell are you on about," I cut him off before he could even continue. For some reason, it really enraged me - his words. Disappointed? In Karma?

Why did it sound so...

"Right?" He said, as if trying to finish that uncomplete sentence.

The boy finally showed himself. His cool, emotionless face surprised me. It was nowhere near to what he sounded or acted like just before. I expected something like heartbroken aura, puffy eyes, tired expression. He looked more like a bored sloth.

"Nonsense," snapping, I glared.

He suddenly had that smirk on: "Look at that face and say it again, liar."

I opted for not commenting on that. His words had much more of an impact on me than it should. There was something in my chest, fighting, hurting and burning. Something I didn't want to touch. And here he was, reaching out for it, ripping it out and putting it on display right in front of my eyes.

"You are telling me to be rational? Scolding me for being pathetic? Hey, tell me - who is it really that is most troubled right now? Who is the one unable to sort out his feelings? Venting them out on others, in addition,"

"What is the purpose of this conversation?" Cutting him off, I let the displeasure become obvious. Our eyes did not meet - while the red head intensively stared into me, it wasn't so easy for me and therefore I settled down for the ground.

He finally went out of the covers, approaching me and then standing right in front of me: "You are keeping it bottled inside, aren't you? Anger, confusion, hesitance. The purpose of this conversation? The real issue here? The reason I'm staying out of your signy? You, Gakushu. You and your stubborn attitude, the image of a perfect student."

"I don't understand a shit," hissing, I walked away from him, closer to the bed.

Karma however chuckled: "That's right, you never understand others' feelings. Yours in particular. Care. Worry. Love. Never."

"All of that is for weaklings." It came out quickly and harshly as if I was trying to tell an obvious lie.

"Is it?" He stepped forward, for some reason creathing the sensation of being cornered and as I tried to take another step back, I stumbled and fell on his bed. Suddenly, the redhead deliberately followed my example except for the fact that he was hovering over me now.

"Then, what is it that you feel towards me?"

It was as though those golden eyes could pierce right through my soul. A part of me knew that I was wrong about this but the other part didn't want to accept it. His gaze did not want to let me go – it demanded an answer, a proper declaration of defeat. But I wouldn't let him – my ego would suffer too much of damane.

"Choose,"

"What the hell are you doing," I put all of the hostility into those words, pushing him off me and sitting up.

My younger brother frowned at that: „So, this is your answer?"

His theoretical questions always confused me – no matter what, all of his words had a certain meaning. And not only one, more of them. He could be asking about one think but thinking about something completely different. He could be questioning me about my favourite colour in order to find out if I was deceiving him about a different matter. He was just way too good at reading people – so good it sometimes frightened me. Did it even make sense?

"I don't know what it is that you have in mind or what this all means, Karma. But I refuse to comply with your ideas. When you manage to get some sense into your head, we can carry on. Until then, bye."

And with that, I took my bag and walked away from his room. The redhead didn't follow me. The only thing he did was give me a goodbye in the coldest way possible.

"Have a nice day, Asano-kun."

* * *

Karma's P.O.V.

Dense as ever, I see.

 _"I don't understand a shit,"_ was it? Of course he doesn't. He never does. No matter what I tell him, no matter how much I show him, he just won't understand.

 _"What's the purpose of this conversation?"_ he dared to ask. Wasn't it obvious? Haven't I said it clearly? I wanted him to sort out his feelings and the way he will act towards me from now on.

After all, he was the flawless Asano, son of a chairman, the genius and everything. Him having a brother who attends class E - a place for dropouts, the target of derision - was something unimaginable.

I said. It was all for him.

 _"What is it that you feel towards me?"_ I asked, showing him everything in that single glance. I knew he understood, I saw it in his eyes and he knew it.

What is it that I am for you? What is it that I will become from this point on? Your brother, despite being in the class E, or someone you refuse to accept? Brothers or strangers? Me or the perfect student?

 _"Choose,"_

Of course it was the school. He literally shoved me aside. He threw me away, freeing himself from both my arms and the prison called brotherhood. I wondered if I was too much of a bother. But haven't that always been like that? Wasn't I the one who got rejected by father and mother?

And it seems that talking to him anymore would do no good. He said that he refuses to comply with me. In other words, he denies me.

So the only appropriate thing I managed to choke out as he left was a farewell adressed to someone I have always known but who has never known me.

"Have a nice day, _Asano-kun."_

And I wondered if it were better this way.

* * *

 **Ah, this was so tense. I hope you guys understand that a very important part of this fanfiction is the complicated relationship between Karma and Asano.**

 **Though I'm not very good at conveying their feelings into words and actions. So I just tried it like this. Hope you like it! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**EEEEH I'M SO SORRY FOR BEING LATE**

 **Seriously, this month is so tense T.T One day it's an exam, the next day tons of homework and essays and goddamn screw it all... Sorry.**

 **Anyways, thanks so much for the revieiws, follows, favourites, I really appreciate your patience and tolerance :)**

 **VioletteWhest, Rhaelle,** **Mokona lover** **: Indeed, he is being way too overacting. My intention is to show off the extent he cherishes his brother - that he wants his full attention, to be spoilt and looked after. Karma _is_ only 13 in this fanfic and the immature way he behaves is the result of both child neglectance and loneliness (that's also why he thinks he's rejected by his parents. They both left him) And it's cute to have a sulking redhead now, isn't it? XD I hope it won't bother you.**

 **Aira Aura: I knew I shouldn't have written that part in XD But well, I already did so... (it wasn't meant to be incest :X)**

 **Arren,** **Fluffyfox05 , FARTABULOUS-POOP: Yeah, yeah! I know you guys can't wait but don't cryy! It's done (god, finally)!**

 **IHaveNoName and IDC: I said, I'm a sadist XD I like seeing others hurt and the more making them hurt :D Btw, you have a new profile pic? It's so cute :3**

 **ShikiHimura, Plutsu: Thanks a lot XDD I love you guys too and really, you are all so awesome for being able to put up with the grammar mistakes and all :D**

 **Just a question: Do you guys find these long author's notes annoying? I don't know but I don't see others doing it so I wondered if it's really okay.**

* * *

Karma's P.O.V.

We haven't spoken much to each other since then. Asano would drop in once in a while, bringing some food or just to see if I were still alive. I would just thank him, ask some formalities such as how the life was going. Unlike before he wouldn't endlessly complain or boast about anything and neither would I.

To summarize, we acted like strangers.

Did it hurt? Of course it did. It was so strange to suddenly lose that mother hen moron who would always come dashing to me when something happened, lecturing me because of fights, nag me about school. And the house was cold without another human being, so quiet I sometimes had to break something or scream out to make sure I wasn't dead or deaf.

At first, every time there was a strange sound, I would immediately find myself hopping out of the bed, expecting Asano. But it has always been only my imagination - he makes sure to come in after a few weeks, these habits and thoughts slowly disappeared.

The need to talk to him and to open up became less apparent to the point I no longer thought of him as of my family. Time was so cruel - making those who meant the world to us suddenly become no one, just another person I could meet on the street but never talk to.

And he didn't seem too fazed by us drifting apart either. His face stayed cold as ever and he rarely met my eyes. I used to think there was a small sparkle of anticipation and excitement when they did though. But not anymore. Now there's nothing but a hostile desert to be found.

Today, I went to school for the first time in god knows how long. I expected another boring day but instead got to humiliate a giant yellow alien. Such a fun.

Now then, what was I to do with this octopus? It was so slimy and disgusting I couldn't even bring myself to touch it without gloves.

"Why did you buy this... thing?" Asano suddenly showed up behind me, something more than apathy in his voice for the first time. Although it was creepy that he could sneak in without being perceived, I already got so used to it.

"I thought I would make some sea food," taking the bag with that weird creature, I put it in the fridge. "But not now it seems."

The elder one just nodded, taking some fruit out of his bag without a word.

There wasn't much to talk about - all in that guy's head was school and being flawless. And he would never talk about school since that would bring up the subject of Class E and me being in it. Not that it really matter to me though, at least there was Nagisa-kun whom I have known since first year. Though it was quite a surprise to see him and some people like the oh so famous beauty Kanzaki-san and the ikemen Isogai-kun. Probably got into some shit just like me coz their grades were fine if I remember right.

Anyway, the strawberry blond did not stay long. Or maybe he did but my ability to perceive time got dulled and sometimes, an hour could become a minute. That's how it is when you have nothing and no one to spend afternoons with, probably.

* * *

Next day

I woke up all grumpy. Maybe it was because of going sleep too late or just because of the very fact it was morning. You see, I hated mornings. Usually I would wake up around ten o'clock but not today.

The reason - that octopus I bought would go bad and it already stank enough the way it was.

Now then, time to take that disgusting thing into my class.

I don't think there is any need to describe how horrified my classmates' faces were and how much I was grinning at the thought of killing that teacher.

Ah right, he liked to think of himself as a teacher. How cute. That's exactly why I wanted to kill him - coz I could and coz I would crush that fake image called teacher. Enough of fakes - fake friends, fake teachers, family.

Fake brothers.

I have had enough.

Unfortunately crushing the sensei's image didn't go so well. I managed to throw him off guard with those bullets on ground but he must have gotten really pissed off, stuffing me with the fucking hot cooked octopus.

Home Economics were no good either. He even put me into a ridiculously looking apron.

Japanese ended up worse. That octopus dared to paint my nails! It could stop me before I would draw the weapon.

It hurt my pride. It spoilt _my_ fun and my efforts. How displeasing. How detestable.

Why was I always the one to fail?

"Karma-kun?" the voice calling me was Nagisa-kun. Turning around, I spotted the boy with a comforting face. I stopped biting my nails and listened to what he wanted.

We can try again, he says. We can always kill Koro-sensei – together, that is.

It made me sick.

And there came the monster, complacently grinning with green stripps on his face. I don't know why but it hurt. It ached in my chest and I suddenly thought of something really stupid.

"You are a teacher, right?" I asked, standing up.

He said yes.

"So would a teacher put his life on the line to protect his students?"

Again, he agreed.

I was aware that it was a stupid idea. That what I was about to do was nothing but a desperate act. But it appealed to me. It made me feel excited, feel the heartbeat – it was so quick! Because it knew what was going to happen.

"I see, that's good. In that case, I can definitely-" with a one step away from the cliff edge "kill you."

I jumped.

Call me an idiot or whatever, but how could I not do it? It was such a wonderful plan, flawless even. Maybe that's why I took the risk – wasn't "flawless" what Gakushu wanted me to be? Wasn't that what he would do anything in order to achieve, be it sacrificing the others or even your closest?

Or my own life, in this case?

Why did I do it? To kill sensei. To prove my value.

 _To get closer to him._

But sensei saved me.

Why? Why was I feeling relieved that he did?

"For me, the option to abandon you does not exist. Believe in my and jump whenever you want." Why was I happy when he said that?

Why has it never been like this with my family? With that only brother who promised to protect me? Why was he the one hurting me the most?

* * *

The first thing that happened when I came home was get a questioning look from Asano. Much to my surprise, he was sitting in the living room, reading a book, either waiting for me (which I doubted) or trying to escape from his annoying five virtuosos friends.

He turned around, noticing how dirty my clothes were.

"What have you done this time," his tone made it feel as though everything went back to how it was before I came to class E.

Throwing my bag to the corner, I headed towards a fridge, searching for some snacks: "Nothing much, just tried to kill myself," oh, I found a chocolate bar.

"What?" there was a loud thud. Glancing at the other, his eyes were widened in horror and the book he had been holding was kissing the floor.

"I thought I would try jumping from a cliff," I said casually, munching on the chocolate. It was interesting to see the stoic council president with his jaws dropped so I carried on. "Such a shame my teacher caught me though,"

Asano stood up, approached me and grabbed me by my collar. His eyes were scanning every bit of me, searching for a hint of mockery.

"You're not lying," he slightly gasped, the hold not loosening. Quite the opposite, it was getting harder to breath.

"I'm not lying," I reapeated, hiding the joy from the fact that he showed his caring side again.

The strawberry blond frowned: "I know you are stupid but suicidal? What were you thinking, Karma?!" he was probably angry. Why though? I was still okay, no?

I did not answer his queries. There wasn't much to tell him and I wasn't even allowed to. Koro-sensei was a top secret, wasn't he? And anyway, my head and thoughts back then were pretty screwed. Asano wouldn't want to hear it.

The elder's face darkened and he let go, making me sit.

"Are you suicidal?" His soft voice sounded pained. He must have been really worried.

It would be a lie if I were to claim that I didn't want to say yes - not because I was, I really wasn't suicidal. Or at least I hoped so. The thing is - would he pay more attention to me if I said that I am? Would he spend more time with me? Would he put me before school? It appealed to me - to make him regret leaving me alone, to make him stay with me like when we were kids. Maybe he really would, but winning him over like this wouldn't feel right. That would be more like pressuring him to be with me and that kind of relationship is bound to break. So in the end, it was on him to decide what to do.

"No, I'm not." sighing, I gave him an honest answer.

"Then why did you do that?"

I refused to meet his eyes. I refused to show him how desperately I wanted to be the centre of his world again, to be the only one he cares about. It would make me appear weak and pathetic.

"I have crazy ideas," was the only thing that came to my mind. But then again, what would the purpose of this conversation be if I didn't make him at least a bit guilty? It was his fault after all. "especially when I'm left alone for too long."

There was a grunt of disapproval followed with a long, heavy sigh. My brother remained silent, thinking about who knows what. Then he opened his mouth, closing it and then opening again as if struggling with words.

"I'm sorry," he finally managed to say, regret painted in that sentence. He closed the distance between us and cupped my face into his hands.

"I'm sorry for leaving you alone and for neglecting you. I am a horrible brother and deserve to get kicked in the balls and all so..." he stopped, taking a deep breath in and finally letting the perfect, cold face slip. "-so don't go jumping off cliffs again, understood? Ever."

That single sentence left me speechless. Gakushu was back to his doting self and I won't lie - I was glad. I was so glad that everything was back to the way it used to be, that he would no longer treat me as a stranger and that he would stay.

Despite all those beautiful feelings, deep inside I knew he was yet to accept the fact I sank into class E.

* * *

 **Yeah, so that's it :I Resolved quickly, isn't it?**

 **Ah, sorry in advance for late updates. I will do my best though! See ya!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I'M SORRY FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO UPDATE I WAS SO BUSY AND THE NEXT WEEK IS GOING TO BE SO HECTIC AND AAAAAAAH**

 **Excuse me.**

 **Anyway, it seems I left you all waiting too long. So I will be quick: Thank you all so much for the reviews, favourites and follows, it means really a lot to me, if you are writers, you surely understand :)**

 **( - SHHH I wanted that to be a secret T.T Well I'm going to write it anyway)**

* * *

Karma's P.O.V.

As I said, it wasn't going to be that easy.

Although it's true that he wasn't ignoring me anymore, the situation didn't get that much better. He still didn't want to talk about school matters and always had a gloomy face when I mentioned my classmates. He just didn't understand - he didn't want to. Class E wasn't just full of idiots (though Terasaka was one, there were many good and smart people as well. If I didn't count that new bitch teacher who came today.

"I'm skipping tomorrow," I said, swinging on the chair with arms behind my head.

Gakushu was silently reading his book, not sparing me even a look.

" _I said,"_ to get his attention, I emphasized. _"_ I'm skipping school tomorrow."

The older just kept his eyes on the literature, indifferently replying: "Fine," then he glanced at me, giving me the hope he would finally say something more. "Stop the swaying, you are going to fall of that chair."

How irritating. That's all? Sure he liked to dote me per usual but no word about me ditching? He would yell at me for doing such things in past. But now, he just stayed quiet and distant.

"Is it really okay? Aren't I supposed to be responsible and shit?" With that, I complied with his order and put my hand on the table, resting my chin on it.

My brother sighed, for once looking me at the eye: "I don't care about what you do in that class. It's a place for failures and you don't belong there. Maybe it would be the best if you stayed home and studied on your own, at least you wouldn't catch their stupidity."

His statement made me angry but I did not let any emotion show.

"As soon as the exams time comes, ace them as normal and get back to the main building."

Him saying it like that didn't make the situation any better. Although I intended to do so, now that I saw his attitude and heard that tone, the thought of returning became less appealing. The main building was full of people like Asano, ignorant, discriminating and cold-blooded. That was the part of him that I hated, the one that was created by our father, the chairman.

Even though I haven't been with my classmates for long, they definitely weren't someone I would label as 'failures' or 'worthless'. They were all kind, unlike the A, B, C or D classes. They cooperated, helped each other, did their best. And the teacher wasn't all that bad either.

What was the point of returning to the hostile place where everyone was after each other's neck? Full of lies and pretense?

Either way, I was going to the school tomorrow. Just for the plain reason that my elder brother didn't want me to. I think I was getting into the rebelious phase, since I was officially a teen now.

* * *

But that Bitch was really annoying. Not only did she waste my precious time, she also vented her anger on us and even said things which hit right where it hurt (not me, the class. I just didn't give a crap anymore. Hearing it so many times from Gakushu got me used to it).

"I understand you class E students are the dregs of this school." The blonde woman declared in a mocking manner. They all stiffened at those words. "Why even bother studying at this point?"

And before she finished with her long bothersome monologue, everyone started banishing her from the class. I just sat there, not knowing what to feel. I wasn't mad at all and it didn't even hurt since I knew pretty well that I didn't even have to study to pass the exams with exceptional results. And that's exactly what scared me, not feeling anything.

"You don't have to mind her words, Karma-kun." Nagisa-kun suddenly entered my vision with that comforting smile of his. I didn't get why he said it though.

"I don't," I protested.

The bluenette chuckle which sounded a bit forced to me. Maybe he was much more shaken by those words then he showed: "But you have such a scary expression on your face."

Only now did I notice he was right - I was frowning. Immediately fixing it, I sighed and returned the favour: " _You_ don't listen to her words. That bitch doesn't know a thing about you guys."

Nagisa-kun's gloominess faded, replaced with relief and gratitude: "Thank you,"

He looked as though he wanted to ask something but couldn't get it out of his mouth. Seeing that, I helped him out: "Well? What is it?"

Nagisa-kun was surprised by my question but as soon as he looked up to face me, his expression softened: "No, I'm just really glad. You are much more considerate and kind than everyone thinks." that made me a bit flustered. "But lately, you don't seem very happy. Is something the matter?"

Ah really, I should keep my moods in tab. It wasn't good for people to be able to say what I feel. It might not have been so horrible if that someone were Nagisa-kun but still, I didn't like being obvious.

"Nah, it's nothing. The school is just such a pain."

Also, it wouldn't do for everyone to know that the both famous and infamous Asano was my older brother who at the moment gave no shit about my situation at school like I could be killing my classmates and teach (which I was) and he would just say a single 'Ok' to me and then repeat over and over that I should pass the exams and get my _stupid lazy ass to the main building_ before I catch the stench of failure on me and I think that the endless ranting and the habit putting super long, unrelated sentences together is hereditary (Gakushu does this a lot).

Either way, his attitude bugged me. And I thought real hard how to make him pay attention to _everything_ about me.

The next few afternoons when he spent a few hours at my place and helped me with dinner I did everything to get something other than an indifferent face out of him regarding school matters.

"Class E isn't that stupid," - Nothing.

"The stuff we do there is almost the same like in the main buidling." - A sigh.

"The guys there actually get it." - A sarcastic look.

"You should go there and see for yourself." - An annoyed grunt.

So when I got tired of this all, I tried pulling something more imporant.

"I'm going to stay in class E," and I carefully observed his reaction.

It was more than I expected. He smashed his book on the table, gave me a burning, serious stare and objected: "You aren't." It wasn't an objection actually, that was an order.

"Oh?" a bit satisfied, I feigned surprise. It's not like I meant it though. "But you see, I don't have to do anything there~"

Gakushu on the other hand oozed fury and displeasure. He stood up and walked up to my seat, trying to act as a parent: "Akabane Karma is going to return to the main building and graduate with exceptional scores for the sake of his future. He will obediently listen to his older brother who has more experience and stop hanging out with dropouts."

His tone pissed me off. No, not only the tone - it was both what he said and the way he did.

"Akabane Karma is going to do whatever the fuck he wants," frowning, I retorted back, standing up as well. We were facing each other, neither of us willing to back off. I guess that's the disadvantage of being brothers - we were way too similar. Too proud, too strong, too stubborn.

It might have been too late to say that I was joking about staying in class E.

"I don't want to fight, Karma. But staying in that place does you no good." He insisted, this time trying to smoothen the things up. Didn't work out very well with his irritated voice and burning eyes.

Nice try though.

"How can you know? Have you ever seen how much they try? Or how genuine and deep their feelings for each other are? Unlike those hypocritical, all high and mighty morons in your place."

I had no idea why I was telling him this. For class E? To defend them? Or, perhaps, was it because I didn't want to be my brother's pupet? Because I didn't want to be the same way like him and the chairman? He would probably kill me if I said he was just the Asano's pupet but it was the truth.

That's right, I didn't want to be like that. I was me. I'm supposed to be free and do what my heart tells me to do. Though there's no denying it that I was being a spoilt bitch now.

"At least there you have a better chance of getting some decent job and life. And wasn't it you who wanted to be the closest to me, no matter what?!" He made a sarcastic, smug face which decreased my desire to stop this fight. I wasn't going to loose. Not to him. And not in this.

"I can get a decent job no matter where I study, that I guarantee you." Now, now, confident, aren't we?

And there was that oh so favourite snicker of his: "Let's see about that,"

Was that a challenge? No. If it were, then maybe I would have accepted it without fail. I would have definitely stayed in the class E just for the sole reason of pissing him off and showing him that I _can._ But it wasn't. And he wasn't daring me. He sounded worried. Maybe even hurt. That alone made me sit down and cease with this conversation.

And I wondered. Was class E and my pride worth betraying my one and only brother?

* * *

 **Ah god, help meeeeee T.T I'm seriously so so so so so so out of it I don't even know why I wrote this and have no idea how to continue so please bear with me!**

 **Love you guys, Satsuki!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I just realized that every chapter is about them arguing so I decided to make something of this kind :) :3 I hope you are going to like it! :D**

 **Guest - yeah, you are right, sorry for not doing it sooner. I actually completly forgot about the rating, it's done now :)**

 **Arren - indeed, dragging the story like this won't do any good. I will do my best to think of something AND DON'T CALL YOURSELF AN IDIOT (you aren't)**

 **NO1 FAN, FARTABULOUS-POOP, ShikiHimura, Freezing Luna, Rage0fPhoenix - thanks for the support XD I love you guys too, hope this story will continue to entertain/make you cry. Your sorrow and pain fuels me :DDD**

 **AmayR - thanks for the praise :) sorry, I have that bad habit of complaining and never really think of how it affects others :( I won't be saying it again and if there's anything bothering you (and others), don't hesitate to tell me!**

* * *

Asano's P.O.V.

After the discussion we held two days ago, I opted for not visiting. Even though I don't remember doing or saying anything upsetting or provocating, he seemed really conflicted so it was the best to give him time and space.

That being said, I didn't trust that spoilt shit. Two days were enough for him to either blow up the whole town or enslave and torture people with that wasabi collection of his. I didn't get it though, why wasabi? There were so many better and more painful things he could use. Carolina Reaper being one of them (the hottest pepper in the world).

Anyway, it was saturday when I had just enough of time on hand and 9 a.m. was an optimal time to pay a visit.

I left the house without saying anything, all I needed was take my school bag so that it would appear as though I was going to study at library or friend's place. And anyway, the chairman never questioned anything as long as I was still the best, caused no troubles and returned before 8 in the evening. But it's not like he knows when I get home since he himself returns late.

After five minutes of walking, I suspected that the idiot probably still hasn't bought groceries. So just to be sure, I got some, stuffed it into the bag and made my way to the Akabane residence.

The fact that his house was so far from ours was both advantage and disadvantage. This way, there was almost no chance of the chairman meeting him personally, let alone seeing us together. The con is that it took goddamned twenty three minutes of quick pace, thirty with slower. I haven't tried running there so I don't know about that.

Arriving at the doors, I rang the bell and waited. And waited. And when fourth minute passed, I rang again. And again. And still no one was coming.

Was he out? No, Karma rarely hangs out. He prefers staying home alone and playing games, that introverted little shy idiot. And if he for some reason has to go out, he leaves a small note under the rug and a key under one of the bushes. There was no note but the key laid there, telling me to pick it up and get inside. Of course I did.

His shoes were still there so the kid must have been in the house. Putting my bag aside, I went upstairs towards the redhead's room and then knocked. No response.

"I'm coming in," I stated and opened the doors.

There was a big bump on the bed, hidden under the blue sheets. He was still sleeping?! I rang so many times in addition and he still didn't wake up?!

Approaching him, I uncovered his face to see it slightly flushed.

I bend down to touch his forehead with mine and compare the temperature. Yep, definitely a fever.

Seriously? He was sick? _Again?_

 _This is like the second time in the last three months._

Sighing, I opened the window for a bit to get some fresh air in and then went for a towel and a bucket of cold water. Careful not to splash any, I brought it to the sleeping kid and placed the soaked cloth on his forehead. Noticing the icy change, he shivered and slightly cracked his eyes open. It took him quite a while to realize it was me.

"Gaku...shu?" He winked a few times to appear awake but I could see he was fighting the urge to fall asleep.

Gently smiling, I patted his head: "Yeah, it's me. Incredible how often you get fevers."

He didn't react much.

I ruffed his hair and whispered: "Go sleep for now, kiddo."

And within a second, without retorting back that he is no 'kiddo', the redhead was out cold, peacefully inhaling and exhaling.

Karma was strange. He was so strong and yet way too vulnerable. Aside from the fact that he is prone to illnesses, he isn't good at dealing with people and doesn't know how to properly express his feelings, resulting in bottling everything inside. Simply an introvert. And yet he was psychically so capable that he could take on anyone at all.

If I didn't do something about it, then at one point, he was going to hurt himself real bad.

Now then, time to confirm my groceries suspicion.

Well, have I ever been wrong? His fridge was empty if I didn't count some eggs and something black looking. What was it even? I picked it and immediately dropped to the ground, disgusted by the disturbingly moist and overly soft sensation and the colour it left on my hand. It was a carrot. A rotten carrot. A fucking carrot rotten to the point it crumbles like ash.

Karma was going to die.

* * *

Turns out I didn't have to kill him, he took care of it himself. Almost.

"What the hell are you trying to do?" I asked with one eye twitching at the sight.

To briefly explain: I have been cooking for an hour and when I finished and brought the food to his room, I found the dumbass hanging from his bed, legs tangled in blanket and his face high fiving the floor. I guess he wanted to stand up but slipped or something before even getting out of the bed and fell head first.

"I need to pee." The teen half hissed, half whined, trying to straighten up but failing miserably.

Such a pathetic state. I just had to help him.

"There we go," I picked the kid bridal-style with no shame (unlike Karma himself, as if he wasn't red enough) and carried him all the way to the restroom. It wasn't so hard as he didn't weight much but it took longer because he was fighting me back, demanding I put him down.

And I did. Right before the doors to the toilet, I dropped him like a rug doll and kind of laughed at his groaning. Karma pierced me with his disgusted and hateful eyes, stood up and slammed to doors before my face. I kind of laughed even more.

How easy it was to make him flustered!

* * *

The way back he made it clear that he will walk on his own and I let him. If I didn't, his fever would probably peak extremly high. Though I still slowly observed him from behind just to make sure he wouldn't end up face-flooring himself.

The teen returned to his bed, ready to make another trip to Dreamland if it wasn't for my announcement: "Here's breakfast,"

Karma didn't look very interested but he sat up anyway, too tired to argue with me. When he got a look of the meal, his eyes widened in something between horror and disbelief.

"You call this breakfast?" He turned at me. I think he was refering to its size.

Shrugging my shoulders, I answered: "Call it whatever you want, breakfast, lunch, means-to-make-you-gain-some-weight-coz-you-are-skinny. I don't care,"

"I'm not skinny," the boy objected with a frown. He didn't like me pulling this up but I just couldn't help it. Both because it nagged him and because it nagged me.

"You are ligher than me and we are the same heigh."

"I'm 175 cm tall and weight 60 kilos which means that if I divide 60 by 1,75 squared in meters, I get my BMI which is about... 19,6. And the last time I checked, that's within the healthy range."

"Body mass index is misleading and does in no way say precisely whether you are healthy or not. Two people of the same height and weight can be completly different - one might be muscular, the second one just obese. So bringing this up is stupid."

"Bringing this whole subject is stupid. What are you, a girl? Ah, sorry, I forgot. You are a mother hen."

"Mind your tongue if you don't want that mother hen to spank you." I smiled coldly, daring him to say anything more. "Now eat it and then take your medicine like a good boy." And I handed him pills for cold.

"Seriously, I only left you on your own for two days. How did you get sick in two days?!" But now that I recalled it, he did seem a bit pale back then.

The kid pouted and stuffed his mouth with the porridge.

"Your cooking skills got a lot worse, mom." Karma grinned after eating one spoonful. It kind of hurt my pride when he said that but I had reasons for why it didn't taste as well as it should.

"Don't blame me. Usually I use broth to enrich the taste but as I was quite in a hurry today and broth takes really long to make, so I had to use just water. Also, I could have made something better if you took proper care of your stock instead of letting the little left there get spoilt or rotten like this carrot I saw there. I mean, how the hell could you let that happen?! I knew you were complete idiot but to this extend? Why didn't you throw it away when you saw it was no good?! It could lead to infection or even asthma from the mold! Because of that, I had to scrub the floor where it fell, the fridge itself to make sure it woudln't affect the food I have bought today by the way (so don't you fucking dare let it go bad too) and then disinfect my hands because-"

"AAH STOP! You speak too much, it hurts my head! I get it, okay? I get it, now shut up!"

Oh. I went abroad. It happened a lot that I got immersed into voicing out all of the complaints and everything Karma should or shouldn't have done. I guess "mother hen" wasn't that far from truth. But there was no way I would ever admit that to him.

Clearing my throat, I overlooked the fact that he told me to shut up (fucking brat) and sat on a chair. The bag I took had some fun books and yeah, textbooks. Math. Science. Old literature. I had to beat that monster chairman after all. And to achieve that, I had to study more. (Didn't I say earlier this morning that I had enough of studying?) The way I was now was above all of the idiots in school but to him, it meant nothing. He would always find my weakness. _You can't calculate quick enough. Your knowledge is still somewhat lacking in the area of technology and history. You run four and half seconds slower than me. Your cooking isn't on a proffesional level._ (Even Karma thinks so. And I had to admit that he was better than me since he had more experience.) No matter what, there were always a gap in skills between us. It pissed me off.

"You should try relaxing once it time," Karma suddenly declared, interrupting the flow of my resentful thoughts. He was looking at me with the observant, serious orbs, his face a little uneasy.

"I do relax, don't worry about me."

"I strongly doubt that, judging from the dark circles and your complexion. Did you have another all-nighter?"

He was correct. I forgot to sleep yesterday, having been concentrating on Biology and English since today was saturday. It seems I always stay up the whole night when we don't have school the next day (as I would fall asleep or not be able to concentrate on the lesson. Not that I needed to, it just wasn't polite and good for my reputation). But I soothed the dark circles with chilled teabags so they shouldn't have been noticable.

"Put that damn book down and chill out, it's not good for your health."

I giggled at the irony: " _You_ giving me a lecture about health? You who gets sick like at least ten times a year? Are you serious?"

He made a sour face: "My stupid immune system is not within my control. It's not like I want to be ill, it sucks."

"Maybe if you wore your uniform which has more layers to keep yourself warmer or if you didn't pick fights or if you had homemade, balanced bentos instead of convenience lunches, you would be spending less time bedridden."

Karma didn't let me win: "Still better than overexerting myself like you do. I can actually imagine you collapsing from exhaustion one day. So put that book down and take it easy"

"Impossi-"

"I am being worried about you here so would you please listen to me for once?"

This was bad. He was pulling that card out. The puppy eyes. The genuinely concerned face. That urgent voice of his that always managed to make my heart skip not one but two beats in fear. And it was so hard for me to bear. He was the only one I had after all.

"Fine," I gave up, closing the thick text. He smiled in a victorious way which really irritated me but in a way made me happy. I was weird. "What now?"

The redhead put the tray with an empty bowl on his cupboard and looked up as if trying to think of what to do next. I didn't have to wait long: "What about you take a nap?"

"Are you stupid?"

* * *

At some point, I fell asleep without knowing when, where, why and how. I especially wanted to know _how._ But when I woke up, I found myself in Karma's bed, pinned down by his arm. The redhead was asleep as well, oblivious of that he was just two inches away from my face and technically hugging me.

This was such a pain. And yet I was grinning like an idiot.

* * *

 **Sorry for being so slow with the updates, until later - bye bye!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello everyone! I managed to update sooner this time but there are some bad news I gotta tell you:**

 **I'm on a school tripoutside the country for a week from this friday and I can't take my notebook with me so yeah, no update for a week and half. I will update as soon as I return though so pleaaaaaaaaaasee forgive me and be patient, ok?**

 **Either way, I love you, I love your reviews, reactions, opinions and yeah, your squeels XDDD Good luck with anything that you are doing right now and HANG OOON!**

 **See ya, love ya, byeee~**

* * *

Karma's P.O.V.

I looked over to my brother who was reading a book again. This time at least it was a normal novel, no stupid encyclopedia about some fucking Pigeonhole principle. He had lots of time before even starting that matter at school so why the hell was he learning it out now? Though this one was alright, the principle was easy to understand just kind of hard to use.

Gakushu has always been like that. Way too serious. Overworking himself. As if he wasn't enough. Damn and hell, he _was._

Yesterday when he brought all of the stupid textbooks from his bag, he seriously killed the mood (and so did he now). As for why: First of all, I wanted his full attention, call me a baby or attention whore, I don't care. But it feels nice to have someone look after you after being ignored since childhood.

Second, the whole 'student' part of him seemed so wrong. I don't know how to describe it. It's just that at school, he was a completely different person than normally. Too perfect, too smart, too powerful. Cold, unsensitive, superficial. Fake. He wasn't my brother, he was just Asano-kun, son of the chairman and the council president. It felt as though he was trying to be someone the world would accept, regardless of what he wanted or needed.

But of course I was the only one who thought that. Everyone saw but a flawless, inteligent and handsome prodigy.

His father brainwashed him to be the best and to control everyone else. He never told me about that and still acted the same way before me, if it is because he could believe me enough to be himself or unconsciously, that I don't know. But once he was with someone else, he switched personalities. Gakushu became the ruler. However with that, he also developed some bad habits. Excessive studying is one of them.

I noticed the fact long ago and it still bothers me. He likes to stay up late to learn. All he does is read or train sports or instruments. And it drains him. You could say _"but that's good!"_ or _"he's so passionate!"_ or even _"everyone should follow his example"._ But I didn't see it that way. To me, he didn't look passionate but desperate.

Ridiculous.

Just by the way, his overworking himself is going to take its toll and and it's not like it hadn't already. Like yesterday - All I needed was play a lullaby on my phone and he fell asleep (more like collapsed) right there and then.

Ah, this was giving me a headache. I would say that having such a troublesome elder brother was the exact reason I got sick so often - stress! Gakushu gave me too much to worry about. His head was no good and his personality either.

But really, my brain hurt. I was trembling too. What have I done to deserve such a shitty immune system? Indeed an irony - not even dozen of thugs could beat me and just a fucking cold got me spinning with the whole world.

Suddenly, I had another blanket over my bodx. The shivers didn't seem to cease though. Gakushu was sitting by my side, uknown to me until now, his face somehow concerned. He touched my cheek, muttering something about my fever going up and then he pinched me (?!). Washing the towel in a super-freezing water he put it over my forehead. I shrudded - way too cold for my liking.

"Are you okay?" For some reason, the strawberry blond frowned. I blinked three times to get my eyes working and nodded, not in the mood to talk.

"Doesn't seem like it. Sit up and drink some water, you need to stay hydrated."

But I was way too tired to even move a finger. Not to mention that my vision was pretty much distorted.

"Karma," the elder guy called out, waiting for me to straighten up and take the glass he was holding.

"I'm dizzy," I confessed, making Gakushu's eyebrows narrow even more.

He sighed and rised himself from the sitting position, slipping a hand under my neck. It surprised me but as he lifted my head and the glass touched my lips, I internally thanked him for being so helpful.

This was what I was talking about before. Was I wrong for longing for someone to take care of me when I need it? Having a person who shows love, concern, a person to let you know that you mean something to them. Someone to make my chest feel warm. A family. No matter how much I loved class E, how well I got on with Nagisa-kun, Nakamura or Okuda, Gakushu was special. He was my brother, part of my very existence.

"You know, you mean a lot to me."

Crap. Did I say that aloud? Judging from the shocked face of the latter, the answer was yes. This was bad. Whenever I ran a high fever I got into this 'completly-out-of-it' state and babbled all kinds of shit and all of my thoughts without even being aware of it. But about this one particulary - I didn't mind (unlike one time I told him he's a brainless dipshit tyrant because he forced me to drink some really bitter medicine).

The strawberry blond ruffled my hair (he really liked to do that) and his face formed into such a beautiful smile it made me happy I forgot that we had a serious fight just a few days ago.

"Go sleep, little idiot." He laid his head on the bed, looking straight into my eyes.

No need to tell me. It's not like I could stay awake any longer. But at least I drifted into Dreamland with his affectionate words lulling me:

"You mean the _world_ to me."

* * *

Asano's P.O.V.

I was smiling. I don't know why but it felt so right that it made my eyes water. Seeing his cute sleeping face, hearing his gentle breathing, feeling safe and all alone with him. Nothing to fear. No screaming like when we were kids. No psycho father or ignorant mother. Just us.

 _"Nii-chan, are they fighting again?"_

I hated it when he asked. Because that's when the lively eyes of a five-years old went completly cold, uncaring and defensive. And every time this question came out, the answer was same:

 _"Yes,"_

 _"Why?"_

It was simple. They hated each other. They couldn't stand hearing the other breathing, not to mention having each other on eyes. That was the truth but my reply to the child had always been just a deceit:

 _"I guess it's just another stupid thing."_

And he just stared at the direction of shouting without a word. I never noticed, or more like I didn't want to, but his face would always scream _liar._ Because he knew. He has always been a smart kid.

 _"It's okay though, as long as we are together!"_ He was the one declaring that, every time the mood dropped as the two adults went after each other's neck and we locked ourselves in a bedroom. In the only place we were allowed to be happy. It was quite hard to tell if he was just forcing the smiles or if really meant his words, but I did:

 _"Yeah. Forever together."_

These kinds of promises are never easy to keep. More like they exist in order to break.

 _"From today on, I will take your brother into my care. You will stay with your father."_

That was the final decision of the court. I went with the chairman because I resembled him a lot and mom had enough of that man. Karma from that time used to have slightly red to strawberry blond hair so she didn't mind. Also, the older he got, the more reddish they got. At least he didn't have to worry about the appearance now.

I have always worried about him living with mom. She wasn't the type to take care of someone and Karma was still a child back then. In my case, there was no problem as the chairman wouldn't even touch me and made sure to raise me into a strong person with all skills and knowledge. He had his servants to cook, wash the clothes - we didn't have to do much.

Karma was different. The woman we used to call mom spent all of the time with her boyfriend Akabane, leaving the kid alone for most of the time. Mister Akabane wasn't a bad person - he sometimes looked out for him to make sure the redhead didn't get into any danger but couldn't do much as the two of them didn't meet a lot.

There was one time when Karma tried to cook for the first time and got himself injured. He was lucky enough that I decided to visit. While trying to make a simple curry, he cut himself deep into a palm and hissed in pain. It was the first time I felt my heart beating so fast and my head so messed up. I was scared with all the blood around. What scared me even more though was the fact that redhead was not crying, just dully watching as the the red liquid oozed from his injury. As if he thought it didn't matter. As if he thought _he_ didn't matter. After recovering from the shock, I cleaned the wound with water and went for bandage.

Since then, I started learning cooking from our chef to make food to the kid and teach him myself.

Though he didn't accept the lessons and got better than me.

Damn brat, to reject my tutoring after all the effort!

But well, seeing the face now - to think this was the cute little child running after me, laughing so innocently and cheerfully - I couldn't help but think it suits him just so much. Both the mocking, rebelious Karma now and the small, smart boy who liked to play all games - from the table ones, video games or just sports.

And yet, even in that age, he understood the important and serious stuff.

I hated it.

The fact he was deprived of his childhood.

That he was forced to mature so soon.

Because if he didn't, how would he survive? In this hostile, dangerous world?

Either way, the past is the past. We live in presence and I will make sure to give him a perfect life without things to worry about. Karma is still an immature kid so he can't know what's really good for him. To be swayed by those failures of E class - I wouldn't let that happen. Even if it meant forcing him, even if it meant fighting, I wouldn't let him do things he would surely regret later.

But seriously, I needed to get his fever down. Medicine didn't work out that much so if it comes to it, I guess I will have to drench him in cold water. I actually did this once when he was nine and had more than 40 degrees celsius (104 Fahrenheit). He cried so hard, shouting that he was going to freeze to death and I didn't know whether I should have laughed or felt guilty. Maybe both.

What was left for now was to pray there wouldn't be any need to undertake that kind of treatment. And if yeah, hopefully Karma wouldn't be crying a sea of agony.


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay everyone, I'm very very sorry for the super late update, as I said, I had a week long trip + to be honest, I got lazy and lost motivation XD :/ By that I mean author block, it sucks. *Save me***

 **Anyway, there was some confusion with the mature/immature thing about Karma so here is the explanation:**

 **Karma acts immature but in fact is mature. Considering he was left alone since childhood, he had to learn how to take care of himself and how to survive in the world full of danger and monsters (people). That means he couldn't trust or rely on anyone because that would mean being hurt or betrayed. That's exactly why he craves for love or someone who would love him and would be willing to look out for him. That someone is his brother. With all those feelings bottled inside, he wants to be cherished just as any other kid would be by his parent so when it comes to Gakushuu, Karma reverts to his immature self that wouldn't otherwise be allowed to emerge, being a bit selfish and irrational. Does that make any sense to you?**

 **If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.**

* * *

Karma's P.O.V.

"What is there in that place that changed you so much?" Gakushuu asked with fury all over his face, voice trembling. I just announced my staying in the class E after all.

"Nothing really," I anwered, not showing anything else but apathy.

The council president didn't back off though: "This school has always been the same but why is it that only now you decided to rebel? Are you actually hiding something from me?"

He stood right before me, burning holes into my head. Something that I'm hiding? Something that made me change my mind and actually find the courage to fight against the ridiculous system of our school? Of course it was Koro-sensei and the assassination classroom. They opened the whole new world to me, the world where we could be happy, where we weren't controlled like rag dolls and brainwashed.

I felt guilty lying to him but I had to since the octopus was a top secret: "I'm not,"

It's not like I couldn't lie - I was a pro to be honest, but my brother was something else. Firstly he was a pro himself as well and secondly, he just held too much of suspicion to convince him.

"I don't believe you. Something made you become too daring, even for your standarts. And I will find out what it is." And that's how our conversation ended a week ago.

Yes, Gakushuu meant the best for me. Yes, he was really really mad that I did not return. But after everything that I have seen there and then everything that I felt in here, among those 'failures' as he calls it, I realised what's important.

Grades might influence your future a lot but what the hell was the point in studying for the sake of 'better future' if in the end, you were still a stressed out puppet with nothing to be happy about? Because that's the path my brother was walking and the path he expected me to walk.

That's why. I was going to prove him wrong. That what matters the most is what we feel and what we want. That I can be satisfied even if I spend my life in a place that's not prestigious.

As already mentioned, the perfect student had yet to accept the fact that I 'sunk so low'. That however didn't make him stop being the mother hen because when he heard that I got hit by a pipe today on the school trip (yeah, after the exams, we got a school trip to hot springs), he sent me a 7 paragraphs long message which included mostly telling me off about being an irresponsible shit without any sense of self preservation, a light hint of worry (though I know he must have been really satisfied that I got what I deserved) and last but not least, a lecture about how ridiculous my decision to stay in class E was. He also said that if I had gone back to the main building, I could have been in class B or even with him and that we would have pleasant, luxurious vacation.

Yeah, I kind of regretted not being with him but at least I didn't have to deal with those ugly things from class A.

Anyway, I sent him a short reply where I oh so humbly thanked him for the worry and then added a nice sarcastic response concerning his offer. Needless to say he wasn't happy.

 _(I'm sorry, Gaku-nii, but you are such an uptight idiot so I have to do this you know? I'm being a rebel for your sake as well)_ was what I was thinking. (Un)fortunately I did not write it.

Well, the vacation was nice and relaxing. The class became more open and their bonds deepened. A new student came - Ritsu. A lot happened but in the end, she befriended the class and everyone was happy. I wished I could say the same about myself but hey, I was the distrustful liar so how could I hope to be like them? And I was the one who caused all the trouble between me and my brother as well so I didn't deserve to be all happy go lucky.

That being said, when Koro-sensei let us go with him to Hawai to see Sonic Ninja, I just couldn't help but indulge myself. To be honest, I didn't want to go home yet because Gakushuu would probably be there and then there would be that awkward silence which I hated so I just had to wait until seven or so and he would eventually go home. Either way, the film was worth those five hours of flying. Nagisa-kun was pretty excited too so we talked about it a lot those another five hours and the walk home. It was probably something past 9 already so I hurried up to get done with the report about the film (wait, since when do I do homework?!) and eat something.

It saddened me a bit that he did not leave a note or question me about my whereabouts but that was to be expected since he was still mad, plus I virtually ditched him.

Some time passed and there was that another transfer student, Itona. Second octopus freak or whatever, but he turned out to be quite a good guy.

I don't think there was anything too important, maybe the fake teacher Takaoka and then the Shiro guy manipulating Terasaka. But everything ended well so yeah, that's it.

What really mattered now, or at least to others, were the finals. I on the other hand lost all of my motivation to study or to do anything. Why? It wasn't just the usual laziness of mine, to be honest. With what happened the last time, Koro-sensei wanted everyone to get to the top fifty.

He was becoming yet another hollow, boring teacher.

And I didn't want to be _pressured._ I refused to be ordered around like in the main building. _You must study. You must be the best. You must, you must, you must._ Everyone was saying that, the teachers, the people outside, my brother. Even the whole class is like that now. They all think of the grades only. But I thought that this octopus was different, not really looking at the results but rather cherishing the proccess. It seems I was a bit wrong.

Frankly, I was feeling really distant at this point.

Therefore, I wasn't going to study. Sulking, you would say. But I could do just fine anyway so what's the problem?

Unfortunately the same didn't go for Asano. Lately he was staying at school library to either tutor others or to study himself, having no time at all to relax. His eyebags got really bad as well but he had it concealed pretty well so almost no one noticed. But that's just how it normally went, isn't it?

Anyway, right now, I had to concentrate on this one important task at hand. The game. The new game I just bought. I have been playing it for twenty minutes already but made no progress.

* * *

Asano's P.O.V.

Yesterday, I talked with the chairman about class E. I told him about my knowing he's hiding something. It was obvious with how much Karma changed after all. Also, I heard lots of rumors regarding class E and something octopus-like there. It worried me, to be honest, but angered me the most. That he would hide it from me. And so I declared that I would find the answer myself..

And now that the five virtuoses proposed the contest, I had a nice way of realizing that declaration. One and the most essential part of the pact I would make them sign was 'no secrets' after all. I could question Karma all I wanted then.

That would have worked if we won.

 **But. we. didn't.**

How could mere failures like them take _three_ top spots in the exams?! I stayed number one as always but we lost the wager to the E class. We lost our pride and dishonored the way this school has always worked. A being the best. E being the end. The failure. The useless ones. How could the trash overturn this simple, absolute fact?!

And then - Karma. What the actual fuck in this whole goddamned universe was he doing. Thirteenth?! 85 points from math?! Was he kidding me? Was he getting stupider because of being in that place?

As if it weren't enough, I got fucking mocked by the chairman.

Now, I felt like killing someone.

"Can you explain yourself?!" I hissed, holding the ranking paper. My younger brother was sitting on his bed with a book but I could see his face darkening.

"No, I can't." He plainly answered, his voice dry.

That pissed me off even more. How could he be so calm?! Why didn't it eat him up from the inside?! I threw the paper on the floor in rage and sat down on a chair, clutching my head. It wasn't only his grades that were killing me, it was the sole fact that I lost. I, the ace, the best, lost. And I let myself be humiliated by the chairman without having anything to retort back.

"Chill out, Gakushuu, don't break down on me now," Karma patted my back with a gentle voice. "this isn't the end of the world."

I snickered: "Who do you take me for to break down, you little..."

He just shrugged, putting the book down: "You are just a human, humans do feel depressed once in time."

Oh, how nice of him. But these wortheless feelings were nothing but a hindrance to me.

"Drowning in self-pity leads nowhere. Instead, one is supposed to work harder." I claimed, earning a sour look from the younger one. He was ready to argument on that, saying something like _people are allowed to let their feelings out_ or some shit but I stopped him: "That's why. Next time, I'm going to crush the E class. I will show them their place."

"And you - you will hopefully realize where you belong."

* * *

 **Karma belongs to me, hahahahahahhahahaaa XDDD No, just kidding, I want him though T.T**

 **(Can I get him?)**

 **See you next time and sorry again!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Aye, new chapter! Warning, guys. From this chapter on, most of the things will be different from the actual manga/anime. I don't think I will be following the story anymore and instead will add my own things. Hope you don't find it too stupid XD :D**

 **Guest, Sara Snow, Akano Tsuki: I know I was reaaally late guys, sorry again :D I really really wanted to update sooner but that one week rid me of all the ideas and I got dumb to be honest XDD I'm glad that you liked it though!**

 **Arren: Thank you very much for suggesting all those things and trying to help me, I really appreciate it :) Your ideas are good, I might use some of it but I think I'm having something different planned out ;)**

 **FARTABULOUS-POOP, Deadlycake, Aniaisha: Although I do want him, I just can't have him T.T No one can, guys. Let's face the reality T.T (I'm not crying at all)**

 **Kasumi72: Long time no see (read?)! Thanks for your oh my god so long review which makes me so damn happy T.T Believe me, it's like getting spoilt by a parent when you see it! About your question - I cannot say that right now since I NEVER think ahead XD And about the grammar, I'm sorry, I'm doing by best. But if there are repetitve mistakes, please PM me about them :)**

 **I'm Just One Hell Of A Butler: I think that both of that means basically the same. Asano wants Karma to both return to the main building BECAUSE staying in class E is going to change him into an imbecile (according to Asano). I made the end open on purpose coz it's more dramatic that way XD**

* * *

Karma's P.O.V.

Although Gakushuu made that cold declaration, he gave up that perfect mask eventually and just spent the next 4 hours at my place, reading a book while wrapped in a blanket and eating the whole bucket of ice cream. Sulking, you could say. Or trying to deal with his mental break down.

Either way, I joined him, lying down stomach first on his back (so we were in a X position if you can imagine it. Like a sandwich) and playing nintendo. He didn't really seem annoyed by the extra weight on his body because he just carried on munching the ice-cream with eyes glued to the literature. Sighing, I took the single spoon which Gakushuu left there and dipped it in the dessert.

"Get your own spoon, kid." He grumped, trying to take get it back. I however already put it into my mouth, enjoying the vanila and strawberry flavour.

"Nah, too lazy." I grinned smugly, now returning it.

My brother gave me a stare but said nothing. He didn't mind sharing things after all but it seems his loss in the exams left him stingy.

A bit annoyed by the lack of reaction, I loaded an extra big spoonful of the sweet cold thing (it was as big as a tennis ball, I'm not even kidding) and made airplane sounds whilst moving the giant thing in the air.

"Gaku-nii, say 'Aah'!" I said sweetly with a straight face, putting the ice-cream in front of his face.

The latter sent me a confused and irritated look, ready to retort something super smart back. But when he opened his mouth, I forcefully shoved it in. The elder man looked extremly disturbed, not even able to fight back and ending up with a frozen mouth.

"Eh, Gaku-nii has quite a big mouth," with a playful tone, I stated, refering to the fact that I managed to stuff in the whole thing in one go. Meanwhile, my brother did his best to survive the coldness.

"You little shit-" he hissed after recovering from the shock, abrubtly sitting up and therefore making me fall from him. Then he took the spoon, filled it with an equal amount like I did and started forcing it to me. Although I was struggling, being pinned down on a bed which made you sink with every movement didn't help any bit and soon, I encountered the same fate as Gakushuu.

And that repeated itself three times. Me overpowering my older brother and stuffing a tennis ball sized ice cream, then vice versa, and again and again, until the whole bucket emptied, leaving the two of us completly exhausted with sore a throat, mouth and headache.

Such a pretty afternoon.

* * *

Next day

Since our class won the bet, we had the privilege to order class A to do one thing. Personally I had no idea what would be fitting, but it seems the octopus had something on its mind.

"Everyone~" he greeted, coming into the classroom with a magazine in its tentacles. He opened it to reveal a really nice island. "I have decided on the prize for you!"

The kids (I think Gakushuu would retort back that _I_ was the kid here) started fidgeting in anticipation, their faces excited.

"Let's have a trip to this wonderful island **_with class A_!** "

WHat.

"WHAT?!" everyone immediately objected, standing up and shouting in disagreement. Except for me though, I still had yet to process his words.

"ARE YOU CRAZY, KORO-SENSEI?!" Okano-san asked, hitting the table with her palm.

"DID YOU GO NUTS, YOU DAMN OCTOPUS?!" Terasaka emphasized, throwing a pencil at our teacher.

He seemed calm despite having ninety percent of the class shooting at him with rage, avoiding all of the bullets: "Please calm down and let me explain!"

Isogai-kun who just like me stayed seated (though he obviously didn't like the idea) ordered: "Guys, let's listen to Koro-sensei's reasoning for now. Fighting won't solve anything."

Most of them chilled a bit but still had disapproving looks. I saw Nakamura grunt, crossing her arms and sitting down in a deliquent-style.

As for me... well, I would be lying if I said that it didn't interest me. Honestly I didn't give a single shit about A class but maybe that perfect Asano-kun would get a break from school and calm his nerves before he would have a meltdown. (And most importantly, I would be on my very **first** trip with my brother!) But in order not to be suspicious, I put on a neutral mask, staying the usual self I was.

"Well, octopus? What's the meaning of this?" I asked, making sure my voice sounded fed up and poisonous.

Our teacher was somewhere between flustered and excited which seemed to irritate everyone in the class.

"Yeah, Koro-sensei. Why would we want to go with that arrogant A class?!" Kayano-chan added.

He finaly spoke out: "We should try to improve the relationship between class A and E, don't you think?"

That sentence made silenced everyone. I think that they were all too deadpanned to say anything.

"I mean, if you were to get on better terms, it would greatly benefit our class, wouldn't it? And learning about one another might actually help you grow up as inviduals! We should learn not to hate our rivals but to treat them like equally humans!" He continued, his voice somehow too eager. "Besides, don't you think that if they saw how this class works and how much we do our best, they would accept us instead of trying to destroy us?"

And again, no one even muttered a word. Personally I think that Koro-sensei was drunk or really high because _duh_ , they wouldn't. Class A and the main building is full of assholes and they won't change just because of one trip to island with us. I surely wasn't the only one of that mind, but what had most influence on my answer right now as the fact that I wanted to be with _him._

Therefore, I bursted into a laughter, purposefully falling down from my chair: "Good one, Koro-sensei!" I stated while sitting up on the chair again. Everyone's eyes were on me so I took advantage of it: "Improve the relationship? How funny. Fine, I'll go with it. I'll have _plenty_ of time pranking them and making their lives hell!"

Nagisa-kun had that 'I knew it' face, chuckling. Majority of the kids chuckled as well, probably liking the fact that they would have a nice way to give class A what it deserves.

"Like we could put wasabi into their food and then record it!" I suggested, a big smile on my lips.

Sugino-kun seemed to be very pleased by that: "Hahaha, that would be pretty funny! But I think we should firstly put some buggs into their clothes."

"Wouldn't it be better to actually _steal_ their clothes?" Nakamura contributed to our 'destroy 3-A' club. "And the record their reactions?"

"Ew, Nakamura, you are showing your perverted side again." Meahara-kun laughed and soon, the whole class was on about what would be the best way to embarrass and harrass class A.

Just according to the plan.

"E-E-Everyone! On second thought, I think it's better if we went alone?!" Koro-sensei suddenly called out, interrupting the passionate discussion.

The students however were too satisfied with their plans, blood lust oozing: "Nah, sensei. I think that's a _wonderful_ idea." Nakamura evily declared, the others agreeing.

Yup, just according to my plan.

* * *

"Can you please tell me why?" Gakushuu querried, his face washed in disgust. He was holding the contract we wrote down in class E about going on an island with the A bastards and him. Apparently he didn't fancy the idea of having the 'failures' on his eyes for the next three days.

"Eh? We just want to spend some time with you guys, is that a problem?" I feigned innocence, not wanting him to know that I was the mastermind behind this agreement. I mean, it would be no good if Gakushuu knew how much I loved him after all, would it? Since I was a teen already (yup, turned 13 four months ago XD I'm a teen now!), being openly clingy would feel weird. And my pride wouldn't be able to suffer such a damage anyway.

He narrowed his eyes, confusion clear in them: "What kind of lunatic made this up?! Forcing us to stay with that useless E-class trash, is that some kind of punishement?!"

"Come on, we aren't that bad ya know?"

" _We_?" my elder brother repeated carefully, scanning me. "Since when do you count yourself among those failures?"

"Since the moment I decided to stay there," I answered with a smile, not wanting to start an argument. It would be meaningless anyway. "And aren't I also a failure though, with the exams screwed and all now?"

I think I saw something snap in him but he just sighed, getting really fed up with this subject: "That's it, I'm so done," he muttered, shaking his head and collapsing into my bed. It seems the day was pretty tough for him because usually he would give me a long lecture.

But today, he just gave up.

Following his example, I hopped into the bed right next to him, face to face, and poked his cheek.

"Karma, I'm tired. Please let me be." he whispered, burrowing himself deeper into the pillow.

I hated to see him like this.

"Did you have a lot on your plate today?" I asked, crawling closer to him and taking his hands into mine.

The latter didn't open his eyes but exhaled heavily: "No, it's just..."

"Just?" I patiently waited, squeezing his hand in a reassuring manner.

"The chairman just gave me a... motivation speech, then the gossips, the questions from everyone, the student council work, extra classes, teachers needing help with paperwork, instrument practice... my head hurts since the morning and I didn't get much sleep the last two days." he confessed, his voice getting weaker and weaker. I think he was falling asleep.

"We're together," I reminded him, playing with the locks of his strawberry blond hair which strayed into his face. "Relax, Gakushuu."

And finally, I saw a genuine smile on his lips. Not the one which he had at school to show everyone his charms. Not to make everyone think he was alright. But the one which he showed only to me, the one which bore many feelings in it. _Thank you. You mean the world to me._ And sometimes _Fuck you._

I didn't stop playing with his hair because I knew my brother liked it and that it helped him loosen up. Not even two minutes later his breathing evened and I just stared at his for once peaceful face, glad that he came to my place.

Because if he didn't, he would have drowned in that cold, hostile place he called 'home'. Drowned in stress, suffocated by expectations without having anyone to give him a shoulder to lean on.

Yeah, I was glad he came.

* * *

 **Bonus: 5 hours later**

"GAKUSHUU! IT'S HALF PAST EIGHT, GODDAMN IT, WAKE UP YOU IDIOT!" I screamed when I woke up, seeing the time. The elder man had yet to get up but I shook his shoulders and even slapped him once. Despite wanting him to stay, I just couldn't let him since the chairman would be very suspicious of him.

"You little shit-" he stirred but I interrupted him.

"GET THE FUCK UP IT'S HALF PAST EIGHT DO YOU HEAR ME **HALF PAST EIGHT EVENING**!"

And I have never seen him run faster.

Well, needless to say he had a nice time explaining himself to the chairman.

* * *

 **Aya, I'm done! So much fluff in this one :3**

 **I know it was a bit forced but damn, I just wanted the A and E class to go together XD Sorry for the late update, hope you guys aren't so angry! :) :/**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey everyone! Thanks a lot for your reviews, favourites, follows, I'm so happy I'm crying T.T I'm so lucky you guys liked the previous chapter since it was mostly bullsh*t XD**

 **Anyways, due to unplanned story line and my desire to be secretive, I can't answer your questions. One thing is for sure though - Takaoka won't be showing up. I mean, yeah, it's really interesting but then the class A would get involved and then the explanation and aaah! My brain would melt.**

 **hebasab442 - thanks :), I'm really honored that I'm the first person who was lucky enough to get your review T.T**

 **Ah, I won't be delaying it anymore.**

 ***edited because I found out a small part was accidently deleted**

* * *

Koro-sensei's P.O.V.

I think it was now that I fully understood how painful the comparison of 'expectation' and 'reality' was. When I suggested the trip with class A, I had something completly different in my mind then what was happening.

Just to let everyone understand what I was saying:

Expectation No1: Class E and A traveling with each other in the same train resulting in these them loosening up a bit and starting up with a friendly conversation.

Reality: Class E and A fighting over the train coupe and finding each other's faces so annoying they splitted the train into two halves, the left one belonging to the 'A's and the right one to the 'E's, leaving the middle completly empty and never stepping into the enemy's territory.

Expectation No2: Happily playing games with the students since the journey was going to take 5 hours.

Reality: Getting motion sickness and not being able to leave my seat.

Expectation No3 (at which I started crying): Getting closer to Karasuma-sensei and Irina-sensei whilst shipping them.

Reality: The two of them locked themselves into a coupe, not wanting to deal with my presence, apparently.

So yes, right now, I was drowning in depression, ready to puke and cry tears of loneliness.

* * *

Karma's P.O.V.

My head was throbbing.

"Karma! Help me with finding the right angle of firing the amo at Koro-sensei for maximal accuracy!"

"Hey, we need to hide these gears properly. What if Koro-sensei found them?"

"Karma, If I wanted to calculate the exact time we would surface from water, do I divide this mass by pressure or velocity? Or both?"

"Karma-"

Enough. I had just enough. I already explained everything to them, _twice,_ and as simply as possible so that even fucktards like Terasaka could understand it. So why the hell were they asking so much?!

Yes, I have found a perfect hideaway for the Amo, gear and weapons so please shut up. Yes, I double checked all the calculations about the time, speed and all those fucking angles we should be shooting from. I reconsidered all of the factors and made up back-up plans. I thought of a way to ensure the goddamned octopus would stay still and distracted.

I did it all already so **why the fuck were they asking again.**

Sprinting away from the room where half of my classmates were sitting, I ignored their calls. Sure, I was too impatient and shit but damn, I was too tired and fed up with their shit to care.

Not only did they make me take care of the math in this big assassination (which by the way stole my oh so precious sleep yesterday evening. So yeah, surviving an all-nighter on a strawberry juice), they also had the guts to bother me now that I could get 5 hours of some sleep.

Nagisa-kun was trying to follow me but with his tiny legs and steps (yes, that was an insult because I felt very venomous right now): "Karma-kun! Hey, Karma-kun, where are you going?"

And just behind him was Nakamura, waving at me to come back. Sure as hell I wouldn't.

Countless ways of how to escape flashed trough my mind - from killing them to killing myself, jumping from the window - but I settled with fleeing from their eyes and then locking myself in the middle section of the train because currently, there were at least 4 coupes empty so that the A and E class wouldn't clash.

* * *

Asano's P.O.V.

"Ne, Asano-kun~ I don't understand this part. Help me please?" Sasame-san, a long haired girl with glasses asked, showing me her english textbook. Her words said that but her eyes, well, I could see how much she craved my attention.

"Before that, can you please explain this math equatition? We are so lost," two more girls pleaded with puppy eyes (which were really good but nothing in comparison with Karma's).

I smiled although I really wanted to just spit into their faces. Really, I had plenty other things to do then to satisfy their selfish needs to spend time with me. I had literature to read and many things to study since it seems my knowledge in science, english and social studies was way too lacking. To actually loose to those failures... unacceptable.

The point is, I couldn't just carelessly throw my pawns away because that would undoubtedly ruin my perfect image so I just had to go through this. Just. Ten minutes. No, five. Five would be enough. And then I was going to get lost somewhere with my study materials.

That being said, the five virtuosos had a different idea. Yeah, sure, why not make a group session with all everyone from the class with us tutoring them?

Done. I was done. Right when Ren started using his looks to charm everyone, I used the chance to slip away. But it wasn't over yet. Apparently some of the virtuosos, probably Seo and Ren himself noticed, smoothly tangling themselves out of the girls' clutches and chasing after me. At this poing, I started frantically running who cares where, just away.

And soon enough, I no longer heard them. It seems I got into the middle of the train since no one was there (teachers took the very first seats in the front, after them were the students). Or at least I thought so.

On the other side, about seven meters away from me stood a certain redhead, puffing as though he had just ran a marathon. It was only now that we noticed each other.

For a while, we stayed quiet, somehow puzzled whether we should be back to brothers again or stay enemies since we were theoretically still at school.

Suddenly, Ren's voice cut through the awkward silence which made shivers run my spine. The virtuoses were walking towards this room, searching for me. I didn't want to deal with those guys at all, I needed some peaceful and tranquil place to finish the paperwork. And having a bunch of minions bothering you was not the most pleasurable thing in the world.

At the very same time, I heard voice of another boy calling Karma's name, followed by another girlish one. He paled as well.

Having no other option, we immediately entered the nearest compartment, shutting the doors a bit violently, and climbed up to the hangers where people usually put their luggage. Why? Because if they were to look for us there, they would be scanning the room, not the ceiling. I was a bit worried it would break but thanks god it did not. However, this was quite a good hiding spot as no one would look up there.

It seems the two virtuosos and the class E met as the calling ceased, followed by scowls and the sound of them turning back. They probably thought that there was no way I was going this near to the E-class losers and decided to find me somewhere else.

When we were sure no one was near anymore, Karma sighed, letting himself fall down from the uncomfortable metal rods and locking the doors. I hopped down as well, drawing the curtains so that we wouldn't be spotted together. And for sure tying them together.

Now, it was just the two of us.

"Oh dear, why are you madly running from your pawns, Asano-kun?" the boy finally asked sarcastically.

I snorted. He was obviously enjyoing the sight of me flustered.

"Mind your own business, Akabane. From what I saw, you were dashing away as well."

We glared at each other intensively. And then we crashed right into the couch in the room.

"Daaaamn! I'm so fed up with everyone's shit." The younger boy complained, his limbs sprawled as though he was an octopus.

I must have looked the same because my whole body gave up: "My words,"

It took another ten minutes before any of us talked. We didn't need to say what exactly it was that drained us because we more or less knew. We weren't brothers just for fun, see? Anyway, this once it was me who broke the silence: "So? What now?"

But it seems Karma wasn't listening. Or rather, he wasn't even consciouss anymore.

His head fell on my shoulder and I flinched a bit, surprised by the heat it radiated. Reaching my hand, I touched his cheek and the teen stirred.

"How the heck did you get yourself feverish this time," annoyed, I sighed.

The kid was still half-asleep: "I'm not."

"Your face feels warm."

"Africa is also warm but does it have a fever? No, it doesn't."

Besides the fact that he slurred the words... -What?

"Karma, you are talking shit again."

"No, 'm not. Africa is hot isn't it? And it doesn't even have to wear bikini to be so hot coz it's already hot enough. I mean, maybe it could make a good model and or something since everyone says it's hot and all you kno-"

Feeling my eye twitch, I covered his mouth: "Alright, that's it. Your brain is probably overheated and your stupidity taking over. What about you-"

I wanted to say "sleep" but didn't as at the moment, there was no one listening. The redhead already drifted into deep slumber anyway and his head was now hanging down which would have left him with a horrible neck pain after wards. So I put him on my lap.

His face really wasn't that warm but the temperature was a tad higher so I decided not to risk being exposed while going to the bathroom for a cold compress but to stay in here for as long as I could.

Thanks god I still had my books with me. Opening the first one, I started with the intensive session, thanking god for the fact that we were ensured privacy andn silence for another 4 and half hours. And that Karma didn't snore.

* * *

Third person's P.O.V.

Karma didn't know what happened after meeting up with Gakushuu.

What he did know however was, that he didn't want to wake up.

But he had to.

The very moment a certain _Nurufufu_ sound rang through his head, he shot up in alarm, fearing the worst.

And indeed, it was just as he suspected. A yellow octopus glued to the window from outside, stalking him and his brother who was still asleep, with a blank face. He was laughing just before thinking that he caught a new couple in the class but after he realized who those two boys were, his face literally lost all of its colour in... what, horror? Confusion?

"You goddamned octopus!" Karma hissed silently, not wanting to wake up his elder brother. By the way, the strawberry blond was surrounded by books which made the redhead even more determined to let him rest. As If the fact that the 2 meters big thing on their window was a top secret wasn't encouraging enough.

The teacher however did not move an inch, just watching the teen getting flustered. Then he opened his mouth, trying to find some words: "Ehm, Karma-kun... I didn't know you were such... good friends... maybe even more... with Asano-kun,"

The deliquent had yet to process what his sensei wanted to say.

"I mean, i-it's a good thing that you... are close and... ah, I mean..." Koro-sensei's face was by now pink. He did saw the two boys who were supposed to hate each other snuggled with each other asleep after all.

"Even if you both of you are boys (!), sensei won't object and will fully support your relati-"

"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!" Karma seethed while keeping his volume down, his cheeks as red as his hair now. "NO! YOU ARE COMPLETLY WRONG! THIS IS A MISUNDERSTANDING!"

Asano started stirring a bit and the younger boy bit his lip, stopping the rant in fear his brother would wake up: "Get in, we are talking this over, sensei."

And truth to his words, five minutes later Karma and Koro-sensei sat down across each other in a different room, going through what had just happened.

The redhead had troubles thinking of a legit explanation. There was no way he could pretend that he and Gakushuu were archenemies anymore or that they hated each other so he just sighed and started improvising, using his most convincing and calm voice: "We are only friends, got it? We have known each other since first year because I used to be in class A so we still talk, now and then. We were alone in here because everyone was too annoying and both of us just wanted to take a break."

Before his teaher could ask about the strangely affectionate position they were in, Karma continued: "I must have accidently fallen on his lap after falling asleep because the last time I checked, I was sitting at least a meter away from him, you know, with all those books surrounding him."

Koro-sensei just silently listened and when the boy finished, the yellow octopus only nodded. Then he started crying.

"SUCH A SAD FATE! FRIENDS SEPERATED BY EXPECTATIONS AND CRUEL SCHOOL SYSTEM!" He sobbed frantically, taking out seven tissues with each of his tentacles.

Karma was quite shocked and irritated by sensei's ridiculous reaction but rather said nothing since it at least meant that the latter bought his made up story.

Though it wasn't all that made up.

Koro-sensei was partly right. But instead of being "friends seperated by expectations and cruel school system",

They were brothers forbiden to fulfill that promise from almost 9 years ago.

 ** _"As long as we stay together,"_**

Promises are meant to break.

And he knew.


	12. Chapter 12

**Ah yeah, I'm sorry guys T.T Sorry for being late, I just really wasn't up to writing anything and I was so dead tired and yeah, kinda dead. Sorry :/**

 **ShadowSpiritQueen, hebasab442: I'm sorry guys, I have the habit of downgrading myself and everything that I do. I know it bothers people and I honestly promise I will do my best not to say these things anymore!**

 **Kasumi72, Arren, Rage0fPhoenix, ShikiHimura: Thanks sooooo much for your kind words guys T.T I love you too and I hope that this fanfic will live up to your expectations! I'm glad you liked the previous chapter, I actually hesitated with it because I found some scenes a bit cheesy XD (were they?)**

 **AkumaNoKoori: Don't cry... Not yet :D To be honest I'm still thinking whether I should break your hearts :P**

 **Sara Snow: Yeah, I thought about sticking to Takaoka but realized that it would be completly the same like the main series and that it might bore you guys despite having Asano there. I hope though that it will turn out well later because I have absolutely no idea what to do next XD**

 **eunicekoh10, Akano Tsuki: I don't even deserve such wonderful readers T.T Thanks so much, I really really appreciate your words. It's just such a wonderful feeling when you have people supporting you :)**

 **Ah, this was long. Anyway, here is the next chapter! :)**

* * *

Karma's P.O.V.

"Gakushuu, stop," I groaned as my cheek got repetitively poked. I was finally able to fall asleep after talking with Koro-sensei and had no intention at all to wake up. Too. Fucking. Tired.

But the other didn't stop. No matter how many times I asked him to stop, he did not. And then he hit me with a paper. That's when I snapped and finally opened my eyes... to find out that it wasn't my brother who was bugging me the whole time.

A single yellow tentacle found its way to our compartment through the key hole and held a paper sheet with something written in it. Confused, I started reading.

 _Karma-kun!_

 _We are going to arrive in 7 minutes! Please wake Asano-kun up and hurry up before anyone finds you two together! It's alright, sensei understands that you want to keep your friendship secret! I will always be here for you so don't hesitate to ask for help! I will do my best to give you two time to spend together, I promise!_ (`ω´) XD

 _To be forced to part your ways... Such a horrible fate! Sensei is deeply touched! ( ˃̣̣̥᷄⌓˂̣̣̥᷅ ) T.T I won't let such a cruelity happen!_

 _PS: I made lots of photos of you two together._ _༼ ✿◕‿◕✿༽_ _If you want to see them, come to me later_ _≖‿≖_

 _Lots of love, Koro-sensei!_

I don't know what irritated me more.

The fact that he acted like an emotional mother or that he was still by the doors, waiting for me to finish reading it while wiping away his tears with a hankerchief.

Not to mention those ridiculous emoticons.

Either way, he was right. We should get back to our classes before everyone starts searching for us (maybe they already were but I think Koro-sensei did something to let us stay here for as long as possible).

The octopus disappeared when I nodded, acknowleding that he had a point. Sighing, I shook the strawberry blond's shoulders. He was quite a heavy sleeper by the way (like the time we overslept until half past eight and I had to literally scream the shit out of him for him to come to senses again) so I had to add some more slaps.

"The hell, Karma." He grumbled, rubbing the place I hit him (just lightly, it was impolite to hit your elder siblings after all XD)

"We are almost there, we should return for now." I stated calmly but it must have been apparent that I was disappointed because the other one gave me a gentle smile and ruffled my hair.

"Don't look like that, we will see each other later." And he stood up, stretching his body and then taking his books.

How did I look? I made sure to have a neutral face.

"Don't overdo it with the studying, your brain will get roasted," I remarked with a mocking tone but deep down, both of us knew that it was in fact just my way of showing worry.

Gakushuu raised an eyebrow: "I think that this time, it was you who overdid it. Once we get into the hotel, get some decent sleep."

I puffed my cheeks, trying to deny that I really needed that. Of course it didn't fool anyone.

* * *

Asano's P.O.V.

Karma was cute.

That's all I will let myself admit because any more will distract me too much and now was time to listen to instructions.

Since this trip was being organized by the E-class that had two teachers already, we only had our homeroom teacher, a 68 years old man here. The one telling us information now was a young, black haired male named Karasuma-sensei.

It seems my little brother was quite wrong there. It _was_ an island after all, so obviously we had to sail there by a boat for another two hours. And then we would be there.

Since we had a private yacht rented, we were provided with food, drinks, leisure activities and other stuff without having to pay anything. I took advantage of it right away by sneaking out to a drug store alone and taking medicine for a fever (Karma) and headache (me).

I hoped that the little idiot took my advice and headed right to his room to catch some sleep because seriously, he looked horrible with dark circles under his eyes. I didn't like it any bit.

Making sure that no one followed me and that no one was around, I knocked at his doors and waited for a response. There was a weak sound of movement in bed. Then the doors unlocked and revealed a ready-to-drop-dead redhead with a puzzled look which changed into excitement when he realized it was me.

"I just came to give you this," reaching out for the small box in the plastic bag, I handed it to him. "Since you would never go and get it yourself."

"Oh, worried about me? How sweet," Karma chuckled, his face thankful. "Thanks. But I'm fine I guess? Not dizzy or anything, just a slightly increased temperature and fatigue. Will be gone after a day." he tried to reassure me.

I frowned a bit, scanning his face. It wasn't like I didn't believe him. I did, but...

nah, I didn't.

"Let me check," I said and touched his forehead with mine. Indeed it didn't feel as bad as I suspected but this little shit here was weak and his immune system was fucking weak so I didn't want to risk anything and then have him bedridden again. No, thank you very much.

"Fine," I admitted, the relief apparent in my voice. "Go to bed, I should leave before anyone sees me,"

Karma gasped, stiffening a bit: "About that..." And I shot him a confused look.

"Nevermind, it's not important." he shrugged it off, "Now go before Nagisa-kun comes." And with that, he gave me a small hug and closed the doors.

I stood there for a bit, trying to figure out what it was that he wanted to say. I hoped it wasn't any big trouble because if it were... well, it would be a trouble. No point in dwelling on it, Karma was sane enough to know that he should tell me about important things so if he decided to shrug it off, it must have been something irrelevant. Or so I hoped.

Anyway, when I returned to my room, I got greeted by my best friend and roomate Ren Sakakibara. Which didn't please me any bit because the bag with headache pills was still in my hands and I didn't want to deal with uneccesarry questions.

"Yo, Asano," he waved at me while laying in his bed, reading a book. "Where were you?"

Inconspicuously hiding my purchase into the luggage I put right by the doors, I made a cheerful smile: "Just around, seeing what all there is to this yacht."

Ren put his literature down, eyeing me a bit but accepting the answer: "By the way, what do you think about this trip? Why would the E-class take us with them?"

That's also what I wanted to know. Karma didn't tell me and he himself didn't look like he knew it so I supposed it was decided by the teachers, not the students.

"To embarrass us, maybe? I see no good in the two most different classes spending four days together."

"Either way, let's enjoy it while we can, shall we?" He proclaimed optimistically, standing up and out of nowhere dragging me out.

"Where are we going?" I questioned, pulling my arm away from his clutches and willingly following him.

"There's a big pool in the upper floor. Hopefully no one is there yet,"

But he was damn wrong. The whole class E had already accumulated there in swimsuits, looking really excited. I already turned around to leave but someone stopped me (not my friend this time).

"Hoho, leaving so soon, Perfect-student-kun?" A blond girl grinned smugly, her attitude really resembling my younger brother. If I remembered right, her name was Nakamura Rio. The one who got first in English.

"Hey guys, lookie who is here," she called out loudly, earning many curious faces from her classmates.

The current situation really displeased me and the girl noticed it, grinning even more.

Disgusted, I jerked my hand away: "Don't touch me," and then turned to the brownhead behind me who paled: "Ren, we are going back."

This time, a black-haired boy named Isogai Yuuma stood before us, smiling apologetically: "Please forgive Nakamura-san's rudeness, Asano-kun. We have no intention of starting a fight so feel free to stay here."

He didn't earn his title of an 'ikemen' just on a whim I see. He surely excelled at diplomatic approach but it didn't change the fact that I despised all of them. I was about to retort back that I had no desire to play friends with them and leave but the rest of my class suddenly appeared behind me.

If I left now, it would be the same as running away from a battlefield and leaving my pawns at the mercy of our enemies. So I just had to suck it up and accept this challange, however ridiculous.

* * *

An hour has passed and I didn't feel any less relaxed than when I entered. Despite those oh-so-kind words of 3-E's class pres, not many seemed to be happy with our presence and the same went for us.

"Where is Karma at such a good time? We could have so much _fun_ with everyone," I overheard Nakamura Rio asking a blue haired boy (Shiota Nagisa), her face sinister.

"I think he's still in our room. I will call him, wait a bit." the shrimp smiled, running off somewhere. My eye twitched at that, seriously wanting to scream at those two to let him rest for once.

But of course I couldn't do that. I couldn't let any feelings, worries or care be displayed. Even if it were my little brother they were talking about. I just couldn't. Because then, everyone would know about us and everything would fall apart.

So I just sighed in vanity, hoping that the redhead would refuse the invitation and sleep. ThoughI knew that he wouldn't, he didn't like looking weak and would never let his image of a energetic devil break.

Maybe we really were the same.

Hiding our real selves behind masks.

Showing only strenght and determination.

 _What a horrible trait to have._

And just as I feared, that blue head was really oblivious enough to drag Karma out of bed. He didn't look so bad anymore but now the two of us would have to return to being 'enemies' and mock each other again.

"Karma! Entertain our guests a bit, will you?" The blonde girl giggled, making me really, _really_ want to punch her. But it wouldn't do for the perfect student to hit a girl, would it? No matter how annyoing she was.

The redhead grinned, walking towards my seat in a bar along with her and the Shiota Nagisa.

And the play has begun.

Half an hour of insults, daring attitude, mocking faces and yeah... suffering. Except for the fact that the two of us were the only ones feeling the last one.

It was a bit stupid and childish of me to say this, but although we were only acting, it still hurt.


	13. Chapter 13

**I'M SO SORRY FOR BEING LATE I GOT STUCK I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO WRITE OH GOD SUCH A HORRIBLE FEELING!**

 **I LOVE YOU SO MUCH FOR SUPORTING ME, FOR TELLING ME YOUR OPINION I APPRECIATE IT SO MUCH BUT I'M SO TIRED I WON'T BE ANSWERING ANYTHING TODAY SORRY BUT I LOVE YOU AND I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS CHAPTER!**

 **For some reason I enjoy typing in caps locks XD**

* * *

Karma's P.O.V.

The assassination would be carried out two days from now. The reason was simple - that was the only day class A had a seperate program from us, spending it in a forest far away from the shore. But until then, we were free to do whatever we wanted.

To be honest, I felt a bit troubled when Koro-sensei found out about me and Gakushuu not being enemies. I was scared that the stupid octopus would do unnecessary things which would result in raising suspicion. Though just the very fact that _someone knew_ was enough to make guilt and paranoia creep in the back of my mind.

But he was Koro-sensei. He would have found out sooner or later anyway. And I trusted him enough to know that he wouldn't spill it out to everyone. (Also, I blackmailed him to stay silent).

That's why I didn't tell Gakushuu anything.

Though one of my fears came true - he _was_ doing unnecessary things. For example he makes a big commotion to misdirect everyone's attention and then kidnappes me and sends me to my brother (of course he disappears before anyone from A class notices him). Or he manipulates something somehow (I have no idea whatsoever) so that the two of us end up in the same groups.

The first thing of that kind happened an hour after we arrived to the island. It being something past seven o'clock, the hotel had finished making the dinner. And now, at the moment, we siblings were standing dumbfounded in an empty, spacious dinning room with a single table with food aranged and two chairs. As for where the others were or why we were the only ones here:

That. Fucking. Octopus.

I think.

"The doors are locked," the strawberry blond stated, probably thinking we entered the wrong room.

Unlike him though, I knew what was going on. Just a while ago, we were called for dinner. A man dressed formally (he looked like a waiter from 5 stars hotel) somehow found me on a rooftop (because I loved rooftops) and said that it's time to eat. He escorted me and on the way, we bumped into another waiter walking with Gakushuu and we stuck to them since they heading to the same place as us.

Then they shoved us into this place and locked us up.

Yep, definitey that octopus' doing.

"Hey Asano-kun, let's just eat, I'm hungry." I complained, sitting down. The other frowned, still trying to open the door.

Knowing that it was to no use, I used a mocking tone: "Or are you being shy in front of me?"

The other one had a face of disgust and disapproval though I knew very well it was only an act. He would pretend to bitch about it and then sit down and eat as well because once _I_ complained about being hungry... well, he turned into a grandma.

Everyone knows what that means.

Anyway, just as I said, he played the irritated A-class perfect student and then sat face to face to me, taking his fork and spoon and digging into the food.

I knew that we were ensured privacy in here but I also suspected Koro-sensei was somewhere nearby, eavesdropping. That's why I stayed quiet and only called my brother formally, giving him the sign that now isn't the time to be 'brothers'. I was keeping secrets from two people at the same time after all. And both of them were present.

"Do you know anything about this, Akabane?" he suddenly asked with a cold voice.

"Not really. Probably some kind of prank." I shrugged and then chuckled: "Why? Does eating with me disturb you so much?"

"Yes, your very existence is disturbing," the elder declared, his eyes not leaving the food tray.

Putting my hand on my chest, I faked sadness: "Why, that deeply hurt me!"

And the conversation died right then. It was such a shame, because for once when we could have a peaceful and luxurious dinner together, the one where we could joke and laugh, we just couldn't even afford enjoy it because of the fear of being exposed. Gakushuu had it all displayed in his eyes so I decided to meet up with him later and make up for this loss.

After finishing the dinner, both of us headed to the main hall where we reunited with our classes, parting our ways. Before that though, I whispered in Latin so that only he heard me: _"11 p.m., window,"_ And although he showed no reaction, I knew he understood.

"Karma-kun, what do you want to do tomorrow?" Nagisa-kun suddenly asked, his eyes glowing with excitement. He showed me a whole plan of destinations and programes avaible in this place.

"Dunno~ What's there to do?" I asked, looking to that big paper he was holding. Tomorrow was a complete day off - we were allowed to go anywhere (not too far) we wanted and with anyone we wanted since there was no one but us on this island. All the attractions were free, only extra drinks or snacks had to be paid for.

Nakamura and Kayano-chan joined our conversation, grinning at the wide selection. They suggested riding a boat - we would be around the island and the tour leader would show us interesting places such as waterfalls or spectacular caves and cliffs. Sounded real good so I agreed.

There was truly a lot to do on this island - from scuba diving to gliding, skydiving, spa and massage. What caught my eye however was a small note which mentioned the best place to observe stars - a small hill about seven hundret meters away from the hotel. They had a map to get there so I quickly memorized it.

Anyway, right now, everyone was playing table games or talking. The atmosphere was peaceful, even with A-class that was currently discussing the same matter as us - the program for tomorrow. Few of them were on their phones, some playing chess (they really liked to display their _intelligence_ after all) or reading, another group chatting while drinking coctails and so on and so on. Our class sat on the other side of the room (which is spacious, really spacious I tell you), enjoying films and table tennis.

Gakushuu was currently surrounded by his virtuosos gang, laughing about something I couldn't hear. The chuckle didn't seem forced nor fake which surprised me, because I thought he never showed his real emotions. Apparently I was wrong.

"Let's do it," Nakamura whispered into my ear out of blue, the look in her face somewhat dangerous. "Let's prank them."

I liked that. Even though my brother was about to become the victim, I didn't particulary mind. Oh, what a bad younger sibling I am: "What's better? To embarrass or hurt them?"

She glanced up to think about it: "Embarrass. It's funnier that way. Or you know what, both."

An idea popped into my mind and I cracked into a creepy smile. Beckoning the blond to come closer, I started with the suggestion. After two mintues of explanation, she had the same smile as me and we highfived, super delighted and eager for tomorrow to come.

Because tomorrow will be _really fun._

Anyway, after lots of talking and planning, ten p.m. passed and we were made to return to our rooms since half past ten was bed time (pretty soon, huh?). But since I had the polite, conscientious Nagisa-kun as my roomate, he went sleep at exactly 22:30. Better for me because I had a small meeting at eleven.

So when I was one hundred percent sure that my friend was asleep, I sneaked out from a window (we were in the second floor so no problem) and stealthily headed towards Gakushuu. Hopefully he had somehow managed to get rid of his roomate or at least made sure he wouldn't see me.

Climbing down to the first floor's third apartment which had its light off, I glanced through the window to spot the strawberry blond waiting nearby. Gently knocking on the glass, I got his attention and the boy silently opened the window, warily looking around and then whispering: "What did you want?"

"Let's go out, I want to show you something." I answered enthusiastically. Then I scanned the room, finding a figure on a bed on the left side. Weird how soon those idiots went to sleep.

The class A student council president bit his lip, probably considering that proposal: "We could get into trouble,"

"You think I care? Come on, this is a once-in-lifetime chance. Please, Gakushuu," tucking his sleeve, I gave him a dazzling smile combined with puppy eyes. He rarely managed to resist that.

And indeed, the elder sighed with a nod, running off to stuff something under his bed sheets (so that it looked like someone was lying there) and then followed me, jumping down to the ground.

"If someone sees us," he started seriously although there was a hidden joy in his voice.

"Then we gouge their eyes. Or hit them hard enough to give them memory loss. Easy peasy."

I don't know if that was a joke but the latter chuckled.

We carefully made our way from the hotel, sneaking and running like ninjas (hahahaha) until we were completly out of the sight. After seven mintues of walking through a dark forest, he questioned: "So? Where are we going?"

"Stargazing, obviously." I happily stated, looking around to orientate myself. We were almost there, we just needed to turn right and then-

"We're here," turning at my brother, I showed him the place. It was a hump covered with mystically looking, white petite flowers and almost no trees. A meadow. And right above that beautiful bed of snow-white petals, the whole vast sky with thousands of stars was displayed, brighter than any artificial light out there. No moon to divert our attention, just a dark blue sky painted with purple and white, so surreal and strange it resembled a painting, colours faded and yet so vivid.

The two of us found a spot to sit, or lay to be exact and for good ten minutes we only appreciated the unbelievable sight.

"That's Sagittarius," raising my finger, I conntected the dots. "And that, Hercules. Do you see them?"

My tone must have been really excited because my brother sweetly chuckled: "Of course I do." then he raised his hand too, joining me: "And there - the Great triangle. Deneb, Vega, Altair."

"It's so easy to see them. From Deneb - the Swan. From Vega - Lyra and from Altair the Eagle. It's so beautiful."

Gakushuu turned at me with a grin: "I never knew you were so into astronomy."

I shrugged at that. It's not like this interested me but I read it once and saw the picuters which were pretty so it stuck into my head. And at least I knew this proved to be quite useful if I ever got lost.

"Not really. But you have to admit this is beautiful."

And he did, ruffling my hair: "Also, I never knew you could look _this_ passionate about something."

Trying to look offended, I stared into his eyes: "Excuse me? I have lots of things I'm passionate about. I'm the most passionate person in this world." Both of us knew it was _a bit_ of a lie so we bursted into a laughter. Which lasted longer than my pride could withstand.

Either way, when we stopped, I deeply inhaled the gentle smell of flowers all around, locking my gaze to the sky: "But you know, Gakushuu," I started, feeling the violet eyes at me. "If it were with you and without having to worry about anything, I would be passionate about anything at all."

The words were left hanging in the air for a while though I did not mind. He didn't need to say anything because I knew he felt the same. I didn't need an answer or a confirmation, I just wanted to say it for the sake of saying it. To let him know. To let it out.

And yet when he gave squeezed my hand and gave me that beautiful smile of his, nothing else mattered anymore. Not the fact that someone could find us. Not that we were breaking rules.

Nothing mattered.

Only us.


	14. Chapter 14

**I'm so so so SORRY FOR BEING LATE I WAS SO UNPRODUCTIVE THE LAST WEEK AND I HAD NO IDEA WHAT TO DO AND EVERYTHING WAS SO DEMANDING AND UGH IM SORRY.**

 **I have bad news, unfortunately :/ (for you guys, for me it's different) I will be taking a break for 2-3 weeks, meaning no updates. I need to get life and really, I want a break. No stress, no responsibilites. Just. A. Break.**

 **I'm really happy you guys liked the previous chapter :) I will do my best not to disappoint you!**

 **So yeah, sorry again. I hope you enjoy this silly chapter XD**

 **See you! :)**

* * *

Karma's P.O.V.

"Karma-kun? Are you okay?" a certain bluehead asked as he made his bed. I on the other hand was still sitting on mine, having yet to remember my own name.

"Huh?" I groaned, narrowing my eyes in order to get used to the sunlight. Damn, I was sleepy.

"I'm asking if everything is alright. You have been sitting like this for the past ten minutes already." Nagisa-kun walked towards me and waved his hand in front of my face. "And you look tired."

Yeah, he didn't have to tell me. I _was_ tired. Considering that I returned back to the hotel at three a.m. and now it was... what, seven? - Well, I wasn't really good with sleep deprivation.

Just in case someone wanted to know what I have been doing until three a.m. - it turns out the stargazing turned out too well. Both me and Gakushuu enjoyed the view for two hours, showing each other the constellation and then talking for another hour about something. Currently I have no recollection of the content of the conversation but I suspected it had something to do with this trip and then about the chairman. You know, the serious stuff.

Maybe that's why I couldn't remember it. I didn't want to.

Either way, I admit that motionlessly sitting on the bed for ten minutes straight was a bit concerning. Sighing, I mischievously smiled and assured my friend: "I would welcome five more hours of sleep, indeed."

The bluenette was obviously amused: "Unfortunately, we signed ourselves up for the boat trip which starts at eight o'clock. Come on, Karma-kun, you will be awake after breakfast."

And true to his words, the sandwitch, butter croissant with marmelade and orange juice got me back to my senses right away. Really, the food was wonderful. I felt like a goddamned king, sitting in a luxurious restaurant with luxurious food and luxurious everything.

While eating, I noticed my older brother who sat across the room with other four guys (those wannabe geniuses). He didn't seem affected by only four hours of sleep with all those smiles and lively responses he was giving. Well, taking into account that he liked to stay up late and study (and he sometimes pulled all-nighters), it was understandable. And despisable.

"So~ Excited?" Nakamura grinned, earning our attention with a strawberry on her fork. Agh, the strawberries here were so sweet!

She sounded really innocent and the two green and blue midgets of ours immediately thought she was asking about the tour. But I knew that spark in her eyes and knew very well she had something completly different in her mind. Maybe the upcoming prank. Or the one we have just pulled, unbeknown to everyone else. (Not even the readers XD)

"Definitely," I answered with a smirk, secretly communicating with her in the 'devil-duo-telepathy'.

Kayano-chan clapped her hands in joy: "Yep! I checked the route - it follows the bank of the island so we will have a wonderful view to the cliffs and waterfalls. And the sea itself!"

I nodded and carried on eating since we only had ten more minutes left. While they were talking though, I accidently cracked a small smile when I remembered that Gakushuu was going too. But my friends didn't know that - and the class A didn't know about us either. It was only yesterday that I suggested my brother went on the boat trip as well and he agreed. We could play off being annoyed by each other while secretly enjyoing it.

Also, what use would it be of if I couldn't see the results of my prank?

"Are we done?" Nagisa-kun asked about a few minutes later and we all agreed, standing up and then heading to the place where we were supposed to wait.

Our tour guide came up only a little bit later than us and he asked us the casual things - if we were excited, what we wanted to see and all. A nice guy, in my opinion. But I didn't talk much because I have only been waiting for one thing.

"What the-" Kayano-chan suddenly gasped as she spotted two figures going right here. My friends then glanced at whatever it was that made the greenhead frown only to react just the same way.

"Oh, lookie who came," I sarcastically remarked, not letting the delight show. I was quite good at deceiving people after all. Though I didn't know if that was good or not.

When the two people - Asano Gakushuu and Sakakibara Ren spotted us, the strawberry blond made a disgusted face, his companion sighing in annoyance. I wondered why and how only Sakakibara-kun was with my brother, I thought the whole gang would stick to him. But well, I could ask later.

"Is this all of you? It's high time we go," the tour guide Ito-san asked, interrupting the somewhat tense atmoshpere.

"On the second thought, this isn't worth my time," Asano-kun stated and turned around to leave. I exchanged a look with Nakamura who understood my desire to see him suffer from the prank we pulled earlier this morning and gave me a look of approval.

"Come on, Asano-kun! This will be fun, won't it?" I grabbed his hand and dragged him into the boat. He made a surprised face and lost his footing, unable to fight back and falling on the wooden vehicle. His friend tried to catch him but ended up just the same. Nakamura pushed the two hesitant midgets there as well and the two of us hopped in the last, beckoning Ito-san to start the mashine. And before anyone could realize what has just happened, we were already ten meters away from the shore.

To be honest, Gakushuu could break away from my hold any time. He could have easily jerked his hand away, considering his wonderful reflexes and strenght, defended himself or even attacked back. Something as weak as a pull wasn't enough to make him loose his ballance. And my brother never fell butt-first. He always managed to somehow land elegantly and swiftly without any problem. Not that anyone knew though - only us. Only we knew that this all was just a play and that all of the expressions and words were only parts of the script.

It was funny.

And strange at the same time.

It felt like our lives were nothing but a puppet play.

Putting serious and depressing thoughts aside, Sakakibara-kun and Asano-kun started bickering: "What's wrong with you, Akabane?!"

Innocently, I titled my head: "What do you mean?"

He frowned, dusting off his clothes: "We don't want to go on this tour. Not with _you guys._ Now get us back."

Nakamura then joined my overly polite speech: "Oh but we want to enjoy this trip together. There should be no problem whatsoever. Right?" she turned at me, recieveing an eager nod, and then at Nagisa-kun and Kayano-chan who stayed quite for a while with the _'this isn't a good idea'_ face.

"Or do you mind their presence?" She pursed her lips. Genius indeed, the girl knew how to manipulate people. Make them obligated to agree. I liked that.

Frantically shaking his head, the blue-haired boy denied: "N-No, it's alright."

And with that, I returned to the two hosts we had: "There you have it. No need to be shy, come on~ We are all friend here, no?"

I got _pretty_ respons from both of them.

Anyway, the voyage was going smoothly. We were taken to a certain locality where you could see corals even through the water surface (damn that was beautiful). While taking pictures, I glanced at the clock - roughly half an hour since our innocent prank. And sure to the label's words, the effects started kicking in.

The two A-class students started fidgeting and holding their stomach. I saw my brother's face twist in confusion and displeasure as he gritted his teeth, walking over to the tour guide and asking him something. Probably where was the nearest toilet.

Well, to be expected. Since the five virtuosos got a good dosage of laxatives into their breakfast. (Good job, Nakamura!)

Just a while later, the older teen frowned and returned to his friend, telling him about the unfortunate news - the toilets are only in the hotel. Which was about twenty miles away from here. So yeah, twenty minutes back would surely do a number to their stamina. Or pride, if they didn't manage to hold it in.

Lol.

The blonde girl chuckled as she noticed the same thing and through our 'devil-duo-telepathy' we fist bumped. Seriously, it was so precious to see my older brother's embarrassed and flustered face.

He probably asked Ito-san not to tell us about the reason why we were returning so Nagisa-kun and Kayano-chan who knew nothing thought the two insisted on seperating their ways from ours.

But really, the fidgeting was funny.

As we sailed back, I walked up to my brother's side when Sakakibara-kun went off to the other side, probably trying to distract his digestive track by flirting with the girls. Maybe he thought Nagisa-kun was a girl too.

"So, how is it going?" I smiled, leaning on the edge of the boat and staring off into the vast blue.

The latter hesitated to talk - of course he wouldn't want to say outloud that he was about to shit his pants. And it made everything so much more amusing.

"I see you've got some problems going on?" the mockery in my voice was accidental - I was just enjoying it too much. More than I should have let shown.

Gakushuu shot a suspecting look at me: "Karma," he hissed. "is this probably... your doing?"

Aaaah well, that escalated quickly. I wondered whether I should deny it but then again, my brother wasn't stupid. Dense, maybe, but not stupid.

"I thought you were just too stiff lately so I wanted to help you _loosen up."_ emphasizing the last words, my voice got even more daring. Damn, he was going to kill me. But I didn't care, this was hilarious.

"Akabane Karma, you didn't." he threatened, standing up and looking ready to snap my neck with his bare hands. I was glad no one saw us since they were too immersed in the conversation (maybe that's why that Ren was my brother's best friend, he was snobbish but not bad.)

Holding my hands in a defensive way, my facial muscles just had to curve into a grin. And that's when I sealed my fate. Gakushuu lunged forward and tried to grab my neck. I however back off to find out that-

there was nowhere to back off.

It happened so quickly I didn't even get to react. Falling over the edge, I felt my brother's hands grabbing my shirt but gravity proved to be stronger and he immediately following me into the water.

What's worse, no one noticed or heard it because of the loud engine. So when both of us emerged from the surface and caught our breath, our friends were already too far to hear our shouts.

"HEY!" I called again, but in vain. Their siluethes were getting smaller and smaller until we saw nothing but gray and blue dots. Wonderful.

Sighing, I bit my tongue. This didn't turn out how I wanted it to. Not to mention the strawberry blond who was currently giving off a very murderous aura right now.

"Karma," he dreadfully cracked his fingers. But then when he was about to swim towards me, he suddenly stopped and he burried his face into the water.

Alarmed, I dived to see what happened to find my brother holding his stomach again, curled into a ball. Ah right - the laxatives. Such a bad timing, seriously. I pulled him up since a having Gakushuu drown was the last thing I needed right now.

"Fuck you so bad, Karma," he whined, the look on his face somewhere between despair and rage.

But even then, I couldn't hold the chuckle in: "You know, now that no one is looking, you could just-"

He violently headbutted me with the back of his head (so in the end it hurt only me), screaming: "DIPSHIT! That's disgusting!"

Stars started dancing in my vision and I held my forehead in pain. But well, maybe I deserved it. Either way, this was the least of our problems. Right now, we were in the middle of sea, about ten miles away from the shore.

"What do we do now?" Gakushuu asked seriously, looking around in hope to see the mainland.

"Swim back?" I suggested but knew that it was ridiculous. One - when we fell, we completly lost orientation so we had no idea which direction was back to the hotel. Two - it was a bit too far. And three-

"In case you haven't realized it yet, I _can't_ swim at the moment."

Yeah, my brother's diarrhea was the third factor.

Lol.

"Hmm, let's hope they find us soon?" I shrugged playfully though I knew very well that I was one milimeter away from getting my head cut off. But it seems the other was way too tired of my shit he only groaned and ignored me.

"Don't you have your phone?" After a while, he querried, probably remembering that I took photos of the corals.

"Unfortunately I left it in my jacket. And even if I had it right now, it's not waterproof. You?"

"Same," my brother sighed, completely desperate. He tried lying on his back and relaxing under the gentle sun but soon he curled himself back into a ball because of the laxatives' effect. It made me guilty a bit but that didn't stop me from laughing.

"Do you need some help?" I jokingly offered him a hand.

"I would appreciate it very much if you went and killed yourself, thank you," he shot back venomously, splashing water into my face.

Pretending to be hurt, I blinked a few times: "But I already did that?"

And it seemed to hit the nail. Gakushuu's glare got a shocked and somewhat regretful vibe. Maybe I shouldn't have said that.

"Just ki-" but before I could finish that, strange shadows started appearing from bellow and I got shivers.

The strawberry blond noticed that as well and clicked his tongue, trying to keep calm.

"Those aren't sharks, right?" I remarked nervously and soon I felt my brother's back on mine. We must have unconscioussly swam to each other.

I heard the older one gulp: "I fucking hope so."

And right after that, a familiarly gray body surfaced from the water, scaring the shit out of both of us. I would have never believed that either me or Gakushuu were capable of making such a high-pitched shriek. But apparently we could. And no one was going to ever know about it.

But it seems our fear was unnecessary. These weren't sharks - those big round black eyes and specific sound it made belonged to a dolphin. Oh they were cute.

"Don't get tricked by their looks, Karma. Dolphins are actually beasts." My brother suddenly declared, his body language showing he was on his guard. But they looked so adorable! Although I did read some unpretty things about them, I just couldn't believe this gullible-looking sweetheart could be dangerous.

One of them nudget me into my cheek with his mouth and then started playing with me. It was such a beautiful and gentle gesture I just couldn't help but play with them all, enjoying it very much.

I glanced at Gakushuu to find him flustered and confused about what to do. The dolphins wanted to play with him too but my stiff brother just had no idea what 'fun' meant.

"Relax, Gaku-nii! They are nice!" I called out and hugged one of the animals as a proof. I couldn't believe this was true - I was playing with dolphins!

He however frowned even more: "Stop acting like a five years old! We need to get back!"

And that's when an idea came to my mind.

"Oh no, you don't-" the class president realized what it was that I thought of.

A mischievous though very excited grin was all it took to make my brother feel in trouble: "Oh yeah, I do."

"No, that's ridiculous." he refused hard didn't manage to look serious with all the dolphins splashing water at him and trying to eat his hair.

"Come on, I have seen people do it. We can ride dolphins too."

"Those people are pros and their dolphins are trained. Besides, where do you want to swim?!" he threw his arms into the air in frustration.

"We can just play around until Nagisa-kun notices. He's quick on these things anyway so I guess it will take about five minutes and we are back onboard." I winked and then grabbed the animal's upper fin. It felt as though it wanted me to pull it because exactly at that moment, it made a delighted sound and started slowly swimming around.

"Karma! Stop, this is dangerous!" My overprotective brother objected, trying to catch me and get me off the dolphin but to no avail. But that was his problem. I was going to enjoy the time I had with the friendly, adorable animals. And if Gakushuu wanted to be rigid and focus on his diarrhea - then I will let him.

* * *

Asano's P.O.V.

I. Fucking. Told. Him.

Just a little bit before the tour guide with the students found us and took us back to the boat, Karma got ditched by the dolphins.

And by ditched I meant literally ditched. They threw him off and then swam away in a blink of eye. I suspected they heard the machine and ran away to hide or something but my brother didn't have the chance to think about it since he got splashed onto the water hard.

Before he could drown because of being in shock, I pulled him up: "Stupid! Be more careful!"

But the kid was too heartbroken to listen. Now that I thought about it, Karma has always loved animals. He adored them and felt super happy when in contact with them. So maybe he was upset? No. He was thirteen already, goddamn it. He wouldn't be crying like when he was seven-

He was crying.

"What the fuck?!" I shook his shoulders, very disturbed by the sight of my brother's pained face.

"Why..." he muttered, those big tears falling down his cheeks. He looked sweet, I admit, but he was a juniour high school student, goddamn it. Juniour high schools don't cry when they get abandoned by dolphins.

The few hiccups got me back to the reality. This was really weird. And uncomfortable. I had no idea what to do - scold him for being such a crybaby or cheer him up.

"Stop it, Karma." I tried to say authoritatively but failed when the weeping didn't stop. Damn, he looked pathetic.

"Hey, stop crying." I poked his cheek. Come on,"

"But I wanted to play more-"

"You can play with them later. I will take you to an Aqua world park or something so stop crying." I couldn't bear to look at that ugly face of his anymore. Being sad didn't suit him anymore.

The kid looked up in hope: "Really?"

Sighing, I nodded.

And right after that, we heard the loud motor and the shouts of a few students calling our names.

 _It was about time_

* * *

Karma's P.O.V.

I just manipulated my brother into going to an Aqua world park, yay! XD


	15. Chapter 15

**Guys, I'm back! I am so sorry for being so late but let me be frank with you: I have no life, sometimes I feel worthless and not even properly alive. It got a bit better but still, uuugggh. I think I will be taking longer to update, about once a week or so. Sorry :/**

 **By the way, I'm so happy you guys liked the previous chapter :) I actually ran out of ideas so I just put it there and thought "oh my god, they are going to kill me, that's so lame," but you didn't kill me? You guys even liked it? I'm so thankful to have such wonderful readers like you, I love you all so much T.T Thank youuuu.**

* * *

Karma's P.O.V.

"Would you please enlighten me to the reason behind our... private dinners?" My older brother in his way too formal white shirt (which annoyed me because goddamn it, this wasn't a governmental conference but a school trip) asked, sitting by the dinning table as proudly as ever only not lifting his murderous gaze from the food. He was still pissed off from the small prank I pulled on him just earlier this day after all.

Not that I regretted it.

Anyway, he had a point. We have been lead by the exactly same waiters like yesterday into this private dinning room once again. Of course it was that octopus' doing but I couldn't tell him that. Aside from the fact my teacher was a top secret, Gakushuu would most probably kill me for letting him know about us being anything else than _schoolmates_.

"Oh why, you don't like it?" I made a hurt expression which was supposed to hide the nervousity.

He didn't seem to notice it since he was still stubbornly refusing to look at me.

"It's foolish. You are putting our efforts to maintain this peaceful life into danger by selfish desires." he declared with an icy-cold tone. It made me shift uncomfortably in my seat, losing all my apetite.

"This island belongs to Kunugigaoka high school, in other words - to the chairman. There is a great possibility he will hear of majority of what has happened here from the employees. What would he think if he suddenly heard that his son had been privately dinning with a certain red headed boy?" he finally met my eyes only to send me a serious glare.

"Not only would he find it disgusting - for _me_ to hang out with someone from E class - but he would be suspicious. As for why I would be willing to do so. As for what our relationship is."

I didn't comment on how misleading that sounded because really, no matter how much I wanted to say something, anything at all to defend myself, I just couldn't. He was right. Completely right. Not only about the dangers but also about my selfishness. Indeed - I wanted us to be together. That's why I manipulated our class to agree on this trip. That's why I didn't stop Koro-sensei from arranging the meals for the two of us together. Deep down I knew I was doing a wrong thing and that this... happiness couldn't last for long.

And yet I couldn't help it.

"Sorry," I mummled, looking down in shame and putting the fork and spoon down. "I was being a brat again, wasn't I? I, uhm... I will take care of it." And I stood up, ready to have a talk with the yellow thing that put me in this unpretty situation.

I didn't expect to be dragged back to the seat by my brother though: "Where do you think you are going?"

Dumbfounded, I blinked twice at my brother who held my arm. "Out?"

Gakushuu hissed in annoyance, pointing at my dish: "You didn't finish the vegetables."

" _What?"_

"The vegetables. The green things on your plate that are healthy but you refuse to eat. Finish them." he explained as though I was five years old.

"Gakushuu, what the actual f-"

"Eat it."

"I'm not a ki-"

"Eat it."

"Don't be a mom-"

" _Eat. It."_

I shot him a confused 'seriously?!' face. He couldn't be serious. I really wasn't a kid and hello, wasn't my mom. I wasn't going to be told what to eat and not, goddamn it - I am thirteen! Though to be honest I was just being too headstrong to back off with Gakushuu forcing superiority on me at the moment. Also, I hated broccoli. So he could take his healthy vegetables and...

"Nii-chan, I appreciate your concern but I-" before I could finish, I felt something disgusting getting stuffed into my mouth.

Oh right, my brother never missed an opportunity, I forgot. So of course he would try to shove the vegetables down my throat while I was speaking.

Or attempt to choke me. He always talked about how pleasant that would be.

Forced to eat it, I started couging, tears building up in my eyes. At that moment, all of my self-deprecation and guilt was forgotten, replaced by sheer hatred and disbelief. When I finally calmed down the cough and urge to spit it into his face, I yelled at the older boy: "WHAT THE HELL?! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!"

The Asano feigned innoncence, shrugging: "What are you talking about?"

"I hate broccoli! You know I feel sick when I eat it!" I complained, remembering that one time I was eight and my brother forced me to eat it. I actually puked.

Then, a smug grin appeared on his face: "Consider it a revenge."

And he happily went out of the doors.

I snickered.

 _Yeah sure, I will show him a revenge._

* * *

To be completely frank, I intended to pull this prank even before he decided to load me with the disgusting miniature trees. But now I was especially happy to do it. You see, there was a line between a joke and a plain assassination attempt. And making me eat the broccoli was just way too much.

Oh, he was going to suffer.

So here I was, putting the whole box of my homemade itching powder into his and his minions' clothes. And before anyone asks why I take these kinds of things with me - I did not pack it. I made it here, it was quite easy actually. You only needed either seeds of roses or mapples and grind them and voilà - there it was. Perfect for paying back your elder sibling.

What a nice little brother I am.

As for why I had such a golden chance to get access to their clothes:

 _Bathing time~_

We had one enormous shower/bathroom and at the moment, it was the turn for my brother and some of his classmates. Sure I could pop in, scare the shit out of them, record it and then blackmail them, but I concentrated on the task at hand. Because seriously, I _needed_ to see Gakushuu suffer. I didn't need to blackmail him, there was just enough of material to extort the strawberry blond in my phone and computer, but damn I craved to see the horror in his eyes when he realizes what's going on and then have him helplessly itch while cursing me in all the languages he speaks. He usually slipped into all of them when enraged. But Latin was most common since we spoke it the most.

Anyways, mission complete. With a bobby pin, I cracked the locked door in three seconds (practice makes perfect) and silently sneaked in. Looks like training to be an assassin had many good sides. Together with the contents of my box, I left a small signed note there. Maybe you would say that revealing that I was the culprit was stupid.

Oh no, no, let me explain:

The note wasn't for Asano-kun - he would know right away who did it either way - but for his 'friends'. I wanted a scene. I wanted something grand to satisfy my evil thirst. Which meant that they all had to know because if they didn't, they would just blame the class E but that was it. They wouldn't have that certain _someone_ to unleash their fury on. My brother would just scold me later in privacy so that he wouldn't arouse suspicion as for _why he knew_ it was _me._ Oh but now everyone knows! Which means that my brother will be free to yell at me and accuse me without any problem. He would be free to embarrass himself and explode into a red ball of anger with everyone watching. Of course he wouldn't realize it at the moment - he never does when he looses it - but it will be extremely entertaining for me.

Also, I had to live up to the nickname "mischeivous devil".

Welp, it was time to return to Nagisa-kun and everyone and wait for it. I walked towards my friends with a stupid grin. They noticed it but dismissed it as I always grinned like that. Sometimes because I have done something, sometimes because I had pretty ideas.

And then, ten minutes later, it started.

"AKABANE!" my name rang through the halls, washed in sheer rage and (AHAHAHA) a tiny bit despair. Not that anyone could hear that apart from me.

Nagisa-kun shot me a suspicious glance, probably hearing of the afternoon laxative incident. Actually there were rumors that someone shitted his pants

"What did you do now?"

Nakamura hid her smirk - she must have predicted this since she was the one who saw me collect the mapple seeds. It was so nice to have a complice or at least someone capable of understanding your world domination plans.

I didn't even have to answer because in a matter of seconds, the five virtuosos with my brother in lead kicked the doors out, faces red and murderous.

"Oh hello, student council pres. What can I do for-"

"Cut the crap, what have you done?!" Asano-kun grabbed my colar, his gaze piercing me. I found it extremely funny since I knew him but the others have gone silent as the only thing they saw was the son of a chairman about to beat a deliquent to a bulp. He would do it for sure but not in front of them, he cared about his "perfect image" after all. Though he wouldn't be able to beat me (yes, my ego is very high today).

"Just what are you talking about?" I said the same way he did just an hour ago.

"Don't play dumb, we got your message. _'Itching powder. Because you're worth it.'_ Now how do we get rid of it?!" he hissed through gritted teeth and I registered a few of grunts from the other four. Something about gutting me and feeding me to the sharks. And then some of my classmates torn somewhere between 'don't laugh' and 'this is serious'. Either way, I was fighting off bursting out in mad laughter because that L'oreal slogan was just so genius of me and my brother was sweating and probably trying not to scratch his butt.

Oh my god, this was so good.

"Do you really want to know?" I playfully sang, enjoying the view of his minions hopelessly jumping and scratching themselves. I had so much experience with this prank that I mastered it to the point where even washing the clothes wouldn't get rid of it.

The strawberry blond growled and tightened his hold on my neck.

I lifted my hands in the "peace" motion: "Okay, okay. Just get some vinger on it and it will stop in five minutes." I offered an advice. Judging from his face, he had killed me thousand different ways in his head already.

Then I freed myself from his hold and whispered so that only he could hear it: _"Consider it a revenge,"_

* * *

Ten minutes later

"AKABANEEEEE! WHAT'S UP WITH THE VINEGAR?! WHY DOES IT STINK LIKE WASABI AND MUSTARD?!"

followed by

"MY EYEESSS!" - from Ren Sakakibara.

* * *

Another ten mintues later

"YOU LITTLE SHIT WHY IS THE SHAMPOO SO STICKY?! DID YOU PUT GLUE IN THERE?!"

* * *

Ten minutes later for the third time

After the five virtuosos finally stepped out of the bathroom, fully clothed (Ren Sakakibara with eyes bandaged and the other four trembling like chihuahas).

"You are so fucking dead," my brother smiled sweetly, oh so sweetly I knew he was serious. I guess I didn't value my life so much after all.

"But it did stop the itching, didn't it?"

And he threw a rock into my face.

* * *

9 p.m. in my room

"Karma-kun, that's what you get for being an asshole." Nagisa-kun sighed while putting a bandaid on my cheek where Gakushuu striked me with a goddamn sharp rock. _It hurt. Surprisingly._ (or not) But I guess I deserved it XD

The blue haired boy rubbed his temples, face concerned: "I'm pretty sure Asano-kun is going to make your school life hell after we return. He will probably make sure you get detention or something. Seriously, what were you thinking? There is a certain limit to pranks. Now the chairman will do-"

But I cut him off: "Nothing."

The boy titled his head in confusion: "How can you know?"

How can I know? Oh come on, it was the chairman we were talking about. The insane, insensitive monster that did not wish for anyone to have a happy life, especially his own kids. He would most certainly laugh his off hearing this all. Maybe _that's_ where I got it from. Damn.

Anyway, even if he actually did have emotions and wasn't a bloodthirsty monster, he still had very far from being a father. Or someone trustworthy. Both me and my brother knew that. So there was no way Gakushuu would ever mention his opinion, problems or even things that bring him joy in front of that man as it would all be turned against him in the end. And it wasn't like he would care or help anyway. He would probably tell the strawberry blond something like _if you can't take care of such minor things, how do you want to become number one?_ or something in that sense. The chairman putting so much expectations and strain on him irritated me so much that I just _had_ to imagine the man in the "thug life" style with black glasses and saying "deal with it", to calm down.

Well it didn't really help.

Oh and I forgot that Nagisa-kun was still waiting for my answer. Looking up to him, I forced out a smile: "Just a feeling," and stood up with a thanks for attending my oh so serious injury.

But I know it was worth it. My brother surely loved it as well (no matter what he says, I know he did).


	16. Chapter 16

**GUYS I apologize again for the late updates, I'm trying I swear and I think you will like this one :) Won't be saying much since it's two a.m. here, thank you again and again and thank you forever for supporting me and for saying such nice things, I will do my best to update as soon as possible! Love ya!**

* * *

Karma's P.O.V.

We failed.

The assassination was a big failure. Koro-sensei became an undestroyable orb and we were left soaking wet with hopes crushed.

My classmates looked depressingly grim and I felt no better. Unlike them though, I could not show how dejected and pained I felt. I was the carefree deliquent. And in a certain way someone they could always be sure of to lift their mood. It might sound arrogant but it's true. If even I let these feelings surface, the whole class would have no one and nothing to hold on, despite our teacher's gentle encouraging words.

Heh, encouraged by the target itself. How humiliating.

We did our best, we planned everything, double-checked, tripple-checked - yes, I made sure to revise everything. And yet it went up in smoke.

It was my fault.

I know it was because I was supposed to build the basement of this whole assassination. But what did I do wrong? The calculations were right. The hideouts as well, the movie they made was flawless. He was distracted.

I didn't count in human emotions. Fear, nervousity, anticipation and pressure. That's where the problem laid. I should have foreseen that - the class was still just a bunch of kids. Being put into this kind of situation where the fate of the whole world depended on them just couldn't but affect their morality and abilites.

Damn it.

"Karma?" Suddenly someone behind me whispered and I returned back to the reality, this restaurant in the hotel. I immediately remembered that I was sitting back towards my brother and apparently, he demanded my attention.

"Yeah?" I grumped under breath so that no one would hear us. I was swinging on my chair backwards so it was easy to hear him.

"Did something happen?" his voice was gentle as if he were worried. He really did notice the tiniest things about me.

Although surprised, I bit back the urge to break out into... not tears, just something, and answered monotonously: "Nah," and please note how I did not put the "why?" in there. Because I knew it would become an integration then.

He was about to question me further because we had stubborness in blood, but got immediately cut off when I abruptly sat up, hearing a strange, quiet hissing. I wasn't the only one, my classmates were alert now as well and looking around for the source of that weird and omnious sound, though the A-class had no idea what we were doing. I had a bad feeling about this.

Finally, I found two black orbs laying on the floor and before I could shout out a warning at the others and say that I recognized them and their function, a blast of light accompained with greyish black smoke stunned everyone present. I held in my breath with closed eyes but hearing the _thuds_ of bodies hitting the ground, it seems most of the kids have collapsed. When I was about to cough out or choke myself from the lack of oxygen, the fog of chemicals dissipated and I saw only four people on their legs though some of them staggering a bit.

Nagisa-kun sat only a few meters left away shot me a confused and disoriented look with eyes wide and then his gaze jumped from one of our classmates to another - Kayano-chan just behind him, Nakamura on his right. He must have inhaled a bit of whatever it was that surrounded us just a while ago since his eyes were glossy and somehow slow. In front of us stood Karasuma-sensei and Bitch-sensei though both of them were only a bit better than my bluehaired friend. And behind me-

"Gakushuu!" I cried out in joy when I found him up and alert, not affected by the blinding lightbomb or the sleeping (or at least I hoped so) gas. But at the same time, I cursed the stars for whatever was going to happen, he would get involved. And despite him being black belt in every martial art, assassin world was still too much even for him.

You asking why I mentioned the assassin world? Oh please, we all know this couldn't have been anything else but another stray assassin trying to get the bounty. I mean, what else and for what reason would anyone or anything attack a bunch of teenagers on a private island about two hundrets miles away from any civilisation? It hasn't been the first time anyway. And if this still wasn't an argument good enough, then the guy who just walked in from outside and held another bomb and a knife was just enough of an answer.

"Still standing? Such a pain," he hissed under his breath but we heard it just fine. He wore military green and black cloak and leather boots which by the way had a few more knives on the sides. I didn't see them but could pretty much say that under his jacket there were at least dozen more bombs and most likely not as harmless as the two from before. The bottom half of his face was covered with a black cloth but the fierce, blue orbs of his radiated so much coldness and killing intend it made me clench my fists. This guy wasn't good news.

"Gakushuu, run away." I whispered without turning around, keeping focus in front of the enemy, so I probably missed the _are you fucking crazy_ stare he was giving me. But now was not time for this. I couldn't move freely with my brother watching.

"What the hell is that guy?! What's going-"

"Who are you? What have you done to the students?!" Karasuma-sensei's furious tone cut through the air but his voice cracked when he suddenly fell to one of his knees, Bitch-sensei catching him in time. She huffed as well, beads of sweat appearing on her forehead at her attempt to stay on her legs.

"No worries, everyone's safe and shit. For now. Give me the monster and I will leave. If not-" he opened his jacket and confirmed my suspicions: "everything goes _booom_ ".

I analyzed the situation. Koro-sensei was currently in Bitch-sensei's handbag, unable to help or protect us. The two teachers and Nagisa-kun who was essential in these kinds of operations were partly affected by the smoke bomb. My brother had no idea what was going on and I had no intention of letting him know. And me...

Would I be able to take him on? In a fist fight, most probably. I was a fighter after all. But this was assassination and an assassin we were talking about, who was at least ten meters away from me and keeping numerous weapons at the same time. He could kill me in a blink of an eye, together with everyone here. Not that I cared about the A-class, but my classmates didn't deserve to be a blood stain on the walls and the one to spill Gakushuu's blood would be _only me_. Also, poor whoever would have to clean up.

So fighting back was unthinkable. So was handing Koro-sensei in. I had to think. None of the options were acceptable. I had to create a different one. Mine. One which was going to save both the students and this obnoxious bullshit ball. But how? What was I supposed to do? I had one minute at best, then the attacker would get impatient and threaten us to blow this whole place out. He would search for the orb himself and the octopus would be snatched away. He would take away our one and only chance to kill him.

And after that failure today, I couldn't let that happen.

Suddenly, an idea struck me. Clear, easy and yet very tricky. Quite a crazy one too but hey, have I ever had _anything_ but crazy ideas?

"I have him!" walking towards him through the two adults, I declared. While he locked with my eyes, I snatched the Russian woman's bag and took Koro-sensei out to prove my statement.

"NUYAAA! What happened?!" the yellow ball asked frantically, its attention darting from students to me, to teachers and then to the creepy guy in front of us.

"Karma-kun, what are you doi-" the blue haired shrimp called out weakly behind me but I decided to ignore it. This was the only solution after all.

"Do you want this? I will give it to you." I screamed with determination and honesty so that it would be at least partialy plausible.

The black headed assassin made a grimase in satisfaction (I knew despite him having his mouth hidden): "Smart kid. I knew we could sort this out peacefu-"

"But," I continued, slowly closing the distance though my legs felt like leather. "I don't trust you enough to believe you won't hurt anyone in here. After all, taking two classes of one of the most prestigious school as a hostage would give the goverment no option but to comply with your demands."

Koro-sensei whispered, his face washed with worry: "Karma-kun, stop. Leave me and-"

"I don't care about you runts, give me the octopus." the assassin snarled, reaching out his hand.

"Outside. I promise I will hand it to you outside, far enough to ensure you won't harm my friends." I put as much fear as possible (which wasn't that hard but don't tell anyone) to make my demand more meaningful.

It seems the other teachers realized what I was doing: "Karma-kun, no, stop, that's too-"

I sent them a smirk of fake confidence and returned to the bomb guy: "I will go alone. A kid like me won't be able to do anything anyway,"

He laughed at that and I was relieved for that meant two things: He understimated me so he let his guard down and two, he was going to agree.

"Fine! Let's go then, _boy._ " he sang and made a gesture which gentlemen usually do when guiding the lady. How fucking annoying. To mock me like this... If I could, I would have broken his nose.

But of course, the biggest idiot just had to interfere: "WAIT!"

Irritated, I glanced back at the strawberry blonde who tried to run towards us but got promptly stopped when a knife flew to the ground just an inch from his toes. A clear warning: stay away.

"The deal says _alone._ Right, kiddo?" he sweetly smiled at me and I swear I had killed him fourty times in my mind.

"Yes. Stay here, nii. I will take care of this and be back in no time." and with that, I turned my back at him and walked out of the restaurant, out of the hotel, with that guy only a meter away and keeping an eye on me.

"Karma-kun," the octopus called me many times but not once did I answer, instead tugging him in the bag, giving off the impression I was betraying him and ready to hand him over. But I was not. Was I mad? Nuts? Sure, but I knew the assassin didnt want any more trouble or to kill some kids so I counted on that. My heart beated real fast when we walked to the woods and I almost couldn't hear the sound of my feet hitting the ground and stones. We went on in this silence for five, ten, fifteen minutes, and the blue eyed guy must have felt incredibly strong and confindent with only a (supposedly) fourteen years old student left at his mercy. He didn't say anything until-

"We are far enough already. Give him to me." the patience was gone.

Indeed, we were so far I could hardly see the lights of the hotel. The place - a hill, to be exact, was secluded, silent and dark. Perfect for what I was about to do.

"What's wrong? Shitted your pants? Once I have that monster, you are free to go to mama and cry your eyes out." he mocked me with a hand reached out in air and in the moment of him being narcistic, he didn't even bother to take out a knife in case I tried something. Arrogance indeed was dangerous. He didn't even _suspect_ I would try something.

And that's when attacked. I kicked him in the groin and snatched one of his knives. Then I ran before he could realize what has happened. I dissappeared into the bushes and among the trees, the darkness surrounding me and giving me a cloak. But only for a while. The musclehead charged right after me and no matter how scary it was to admit, he was too quick. If I didn't loose him soon, he would catch me and most probably gut me.

 _Think, think, think!_ I repeated to myself, trying to find a way out of this deadly game of tag. The original plan was to get away from them and then run away and keep him occupied chasing me for another twenty four hours until Koro-sensei reverted back to his form. But seeing how it was going now, it would not take twenty four hours for him to catch me. More like twenty four seconds.

Screw this.

Suddenly, I heard a pained scowl belonging to my pursuer. It seems he had hit something but once I saw a familiar light colour of strawberry blonde next to me, I realized that he didn't _hit_ something but _got hit_ with something. I rejoiced but then cried out in despair.

Gakushuu was not supposed to be here.

He was not supposed to face this guy.

And then there was the teal blue. Nagisa-kun somehow got behind him and was about to knock him unconsciouss when he suddenly roared and took out a knife, swinging it all around himself. As my friend tried to dodge and not get sliced in two, he was thrown away and probably hit his head because he just laid on the ground groaning. I hoped it wasn't anything serious.

But then concern for my brother took over as the assassin grabbed my brother by his arm and threw him towards Nagisa-kun. They were both laying and obviously frowning in pain while that guy was getting closer, which made me fear he intended to get rid of them.

"STOP!" I yelled on the tops of my lungs and surged in front of my friends, holding out that one knife I took. Not that it was going to help but with the two half-out cold, I didn't have much hope to cling on. Also, my head was spinning from the adrenaline and panic. I slowly walked backwards until I noticed the hollow sound of the ground and realized we were standing on a small cliff.

Just perfect.

No, seriously, this was like my last hope.

Sure, it was high from up here but I have taken enough of the surroundings in to know that we could survive that fall. I mean, the trees were there, the grass, the river. Yeah, like 50% chance we would survive. Still better than with that 1% with this guy up here.

"If you want Koro-sensei," I hissed in a threatening tone, "then come and get him."

And with that, I turned to grab my two precious friends and jumped down from the cliff, hoping that at least the two of them would be fine.

Yeah you know what, maybe I _am_ suicidal.


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello everyone, it's Satsuki :) I am very sorry for letting you wait for so long, many things happened and I was in a pretty bad state and ended up not so well. I really apologize for not being able to properly explain, but I don't want to drag my problems here so I just want you to know that I did not forget you, that I will continue writing and that I will do my best keep updating.**

 **Please be patient and forgive me.**

 **Thank you very much.**

* * *

Karma's P.O.V.

Usually I would blame my reluctance to wake up on the fact I played games until two a.m. Or that I was not an early bird. This time I'm blaming it on the punding pain in my skull, sharp stabbing in right shoulder. I'd literally kill a man to attain the bliss of oblivion, to forget what happened just moments ago, but _damn, I couldn't._

Also, it seemed that someone was shaking with me.

I wanted to scream at them and say that _I know I gotta wake up before that mad assassin finds us and makes a teeangers soup outta us_ but instead, a groan escaped my lips.

"Akabane! You goddamned ass!" I got greeted by amethyst eyes of my older brother. Do not get fooled by his choice of words, he was worried shitless about me.

"Can you hear us, Karma-kun?" Nagisa-kun's face got into my view and somewhere in my subconsciousness, I realized that for some reason, I was the last one to come to. Why, it made me feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Yeah, loud and clear." I sighed and tried to sit up, stopping when the aching shoulder reminded me that no, I was not using my arm any time soon. I was pretty sure that I served as a pillow to those two when falling. Seriously though, why the right one? Why not the left? I needed my right arm.

"We need to get out of here." I used the bluenette's help and stood up, cursing under my breath at the realization it was hard to keep myself upright. I must have hit my head because it was still hurting and foggy. Gakushuu only had a few scratches on his arm and messy hair, though I suspeced he might have hurt left leg (seeing that he put less weight on it). Nagisa-kun had bruised cheek and a torn piece of sleeve, exposing a few scratches. Other than that, nothing serious. Thanks god.

Looking around, I analyzed the situation. Apparently, we landed in the middle of nothing but trees, trees and trees. The sky was still kinda dark but it appeared to be about two or three a.m. About four hours after the attack on hotel, three hours after having fallen down from that cliff. I was starting to hate cliffs, by the way. But the fact that we haven't been found yet meant that this place was really huge and the chances of us surviving bigger.

There was weight on my pants and I remembered that I still had the knife and Koro-sensei orb in the pockets. The octopus didn't utter a word, I supposed he knew that Gakushuu was here as well.

Which also meant that we couldn't rely on his guidance.

"I agree, we should find a place to hide-"

"-from what? Who was that guy? What does he want? Can someone please explain what the hell is happening?!" Asano-kun suddenly interrupted, his face with a frown and eyes darting from one place to another as if searching for any potential harm. He must have been pretty on edge.

Nagisa-kun glanced at me, unsure of what to say. I myself had no idea how to answer. We couldn't tell him, could we? That our class was actually an assassination class, that our teacher was our target, that he was the target of all the assassins on this world. First of all, that was against the rules. Second, he would either think we went nuts or go nuts himself. Third, being the mother-hen-stupid-overprotective-idiot brother, he would make me leave the class. So nah.

"Who knows? Let's just find a way to keep ourselves alive first, then care about the details." I waved my hands and dismissed any more questioning looks from him. Not that I succeeded though.

"Stop lying, Karma. You know exactly what's happening. Tell me now." he snapped, stopping me from turning away.

"Look, we don't have time for that. Just listen to me and-"

"I do not plan on blindly following you, kid. I demand an explanation right this moment. Who is that crazy guy and why is he after you?! Is it because of that round thing you held in the restaurant?" His face got closer and I was starting to feel like a small child again, being integorrated by his parent after having done something wrong. But I did nothing wrong. I was trying to protect them. To protect him. So why did they go after me? I could have managed it somehow, without getting this moron into any danger.

"Gakushuu, I can't-" I choked out silently, but got saved when a certain runt spoke up. Damn I completely forgot about his presence. He was too good at making himself go unnoticed, as expected of the assassin genius.

"Guys, there's no point in arguing about this. Let's just... _move_ for now. Okay?" He suggested with a weak smile in attempt to loosen the situation up a bit. I was glad he tried to keep cool despite us being in deep shit.

"Just by the way, since when are you two calling each other first names?" he wondered out loud. Ok, you know what, I wasn't glad he saved me from the strawberry blonde anymore. Having two secrets and two people who had something to do with those two secrets was a hell.

"Oh you see..." I was trying to think of something but my head still wasn't working right. Gakushuu was just as surprised as me, doing his best to make up something credible. No good.

"Didn't you call him _nii_ back at the hotel? What was that supposed to mean?" Nagisa-kun started laughing nervously, as if it finally dawned on him.

"What? No, you heard wrong!" I stopped him. "I said... I said _gee,_ you know? Like _geez, shut up._ "

I felt the amethyst eyes piercing me repeatedly, followed by a look of misbelief. Something between: _Seriously? You couldn't think of anything better?_ and _What the fuck were you thinking?!_

Yeah right. What the fuck was I thinking.

Oh see, I wasn't thinking. I rarely do, if it comes to my actions.

Either way, there was no point in regretting it now. We had more important things to focus on. The assassin for example.

"We should find a place to hide," I stated, looking around in search for anything that could provide us with shelter. We needed to last twenty four hours. We could do that. Of course we could. I was the mischeivous genius, Nagisa-kun the assasination genius and Gakushuu... Gakushuu was the genius genius.

For God's sake, I must have hit my head pretty hard to admit that.

"We searched around while you were out, there's nothing." The blue headed boy informed me. "I suggest we go further."

"Good idea," and with that, we went who knows where.

To be honest, I didn't have any particular plan. The most important thing was to stay alive until Koro-sensei transformed back, took care of the assassin and then we would return to the hotel.

The problem, however, was my brother. What was I supposed to do with him? What was I supposed to tell him? Even at this moment, I was barely fighting off the flow of questions he wanted to ask me, could I keep him in dark for another day? And if yes, what then, when Koro-sensei returns back to his octopus self?

I was thinking of drugging him, but I didn't have my equipment here.

Now that I thought of, what was the formula and the ingredients for the drugs?

Could I even make one that would make him forget everything?

Hell, I couldn't remember. My train of thoughts was too slow. My vision was swimming and there was a strange buzzing in my ears. No one was talking so I had time to go over my body, checking how everything was working. As mentioned, the right shoulder was killing me. Not dislocated nor broken, I could kinda move it but it hurt a lot. I think it was beginning to swell so most likely a sprain. My other limbs worked fine though.

Anyway, taking the headache and the upcoming nausea into account, it was safe to assume I got myself a nasty concussion. Great. Just. Great. Wonderful. Marvelous. As if being chased by a madman wasn't enough.

 _"You have been awfully silent for some time now, usually you'd not stop talking,"_ My brother suddenly whispered and I only a few seconds later that he said it in Latin. He was walking behind me with Nagisa-kun behind him.

I didn't answer.

 _"Your steps are clumsy and inconsistent."_

I refused to provide him with any information.

 _"Your pace is unusually slow, I suspect even Shiota Nagisa knows something is off."_

Ugh, I most certainly didn't need a mother-hen Gakushuu to deal with at top of this all.

 _"You are injured, aren't you?"_

 _"I'm fine."_

 _"I don't trust you."_

 _"Such a shame I don't care."_

For a moment, I thought he would give up. How naive of me.

 _"Stop,"_ he ordered but I did not comply. _"Karma, I'm serious. Stop, I want to have a look at you."_

But when he saw that I had no intention of doing so, he pretended to slip and grabbed my arm to 'steady himself'. A very usual strategy of his. Unfortunately, he was right handed which means that he reached out his right hand and grabbed my _right arm._

I hissed at the sudden sharp pain, black dots invading my vision and tears building up. The whole world spun around in agony and my knees buckled. If it were not for the two there, I would have hit the ground hard once again.

"Karma?!" I caught them shout, not sure though if it were my brother or Nagisa-kun. "What's wrong?!"

 _Nothing's wrong, just give me a minute to compose myself_ I wanted to say though in fact, the only thing that came out of me was a moan.

"He's injured," the statement was clearly from Gakushuu. His voice sounded regretful and somewhat panicked, which I was quite happy to hear. He deserved to feel bad for bugging me.

"I'm fine." I groaned, opening my eyes (they were closed?!) and trying to sit up (I was lying?!). Both of them helped me up.

"Karma-kun, tell us the truth. Where did you get hurt?" Nagisa-kun's voice was gentle and his gaze firmly fixed at me. Gods, this was annoying.

"I just hit my shoulder and this moron here just had to tug it. Other than that, I'm fine." I pulled my best "totally okay" voice and tried to get up only to get shoved down once again by my brother.

"Concussion, isn't it?" he declared to my dismay, his expression disapproving. "It's not that dark anymore yet your pupils are dilated. You walked as though you were dizzy and wince every time you move your head."

And here it was.

I made a very long, exaggerated sigh, rolling my eyes (big mistake).

"We're taking a break, going any further with this _idiot_ would slow us down anyway, not to mention his state would worsen," the strawberry blonde told my classmate, a calm and cold mask on.

"How very considerate of you, Asano-kun," the mocking tone was hopefully apparent enough. We were back to the enemy roles after all. Besides, I _was_ annoyed.

The older boy grimaced in disgust: "Don't fancy yourself so much, Akabane, I need information from you. And although I'd love to leave you here to die, it's wisest to stay together at this moment."

With that, they let me stand up and we walked to the biggest tree we could find. I leaned on it, not escaping the concerned glances from both of them.

"Well? What now?" I asked, not angry anymore but still uncomfortable.

"Good question, I don't dare hope there is a cave or something of that sort to provide us with a shelter," the A-class student folded his hands.

For a long time, we didn't utter a word. I glanced towards Nagisa-kun who had that troubled face of his.

"What?" I asked.

The teal headed boy looked up, a little bit puzzled.

"What's wrong? You have that gloomy expression of yours," I explained, still eyeing him. "Speak."

Nagisa-kun sighed: "I'm worried about the class. What if the assa-" he stopped abruptly, realizing that Gakushuu was listening as well. "What if that that man returns to the hotel? What if he hurts them?"

Oh, _that?_

What a silly concern.

"What for?" I snorted.

"He could take them hostage and threaten us to-"

"How?"

"I don't know, but he could-"

"How?"

My friend stayed silent, scrunching his eyebrows.

"He has no way to reach us. Which means that even if he tried to blackmail us, he wouldn't even have how to tell us that he is blackmailing us. The end. Chill."

"I have to agree. Also, by now, the students should be more or less fine. The drug wasn't that strong, apparently," Gakushuu added, his cold mask not sliping even once. He looked just as annoyed and disdainful as ever. Oh wait, he didn't have to pretend that.

"How can you be so sure, Asano-kun?" the blue haired boy furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

Pretty much obvious, if you ask me.

And yeah, my brother really was irritated, most probably by _how stupid everyone else was:_ "You are fine, aren't you?"

"Yeah, more or less."

"You also inhaled a bit of it and you have been alright for some time now, so I suppose the others can cater for themselves just fine."

Nagisa-kun seemed to be satisfied with that answer so my brother turned to me: "You should rest for now, you look ready to drop dead."

That remark surprised me: "Thank you very much but I'm fine. Anyway, where is all that kindness coming from, Asano-kun?" I asked sarcastically.

"Kindness my ass, I told you a while ago that I need information and that staying together is the best thing we could do to survive," he snorted.

"If you needed information, you could go and interrogate Nagisa-kun."

"It's easier to do so with an injured person, they can't run away."

For a while, we just stared at each other. I wasn't only being stubburn, just to be clear, I really did not want to slow us down. I could walk, although a little bit dizzily, but still. And at this time, we needed to find a hideout and maybe even something to defend ourselves. So no, I was not letting them get hurt because of something as stupid as concussion.

"Shiota Nagisa, if you would, can you please walk around here and make sure there's nothing dangerous nearby? We will be staying here for some time so it's better to know the terrain in case something happens," Gakushuu suddenly ordered, his tone irrefusable.

My classmate looked way too reluctant and he shot me a glance. I assured him that it's alright so he calmed down a bit and went on patrol.

After he was far enough, my brother started in Latin: " _I know you aren't as well as you say you are, Karma. Rest up and after an hour, I will wake you up and we will go."_

 _"I can cope with it, we need to find a safer place,"_ looking into his amethyst eyes, I insisted.

The strawberry blonde sighed, his eyebrows furrowing: " _I'm not buying it. I understand your intentions but you need to understand that just as you are worried about us, I am worried about you. Now sit down, you are pale like a ghost."_

 _"Gakushuu-"_

 _"Sit down."_

And I complied, knowing that in this state, I couldn't win. Honestly, my head was hurting bad enough as it was, I didn't need a full blown war with my elder sibling.

 _"One hour. That's all I'm asking you for,"_ he demanded and I knew very well that he was only trying to help me. I thought it over. One hour was quite a lot. Meanwhile, the assassin could find us. And taking a nap with a concussion was most certainly not a good idea - it left you groggy, slow and tired. Extremely tired.

I knew, I had a concussion twice already. I was growing used to it, maybe.

 _"Karma. One hour. You need it, you know you do. And if you won't take it easy, I will force you. I can do it and I will."_

Yes, I was aware of the fact that he would be willing to knock me out cold.

So I didn't have much of a choice, did I?

 _"Half an hour,"_ I demanded, not taking a no as an answer.

Gakushuu rolled his eyes but nodded: _"Fine. Now, sleep."_

It turned out it was quite easy, because as soon as I relaxed a little bit, black dots invaded my vision.

* * *

Asano's P.O.V.

Idiot.

That's all I'm saying.

I was crouching just in front of him and looking for any sings of problems. Karma was pale, slightly sweating and his breathing rather inconsistent, but he didn't seem to be injured seriously, thank gods. I touched his cheek to check the temperature, just for sure, and to my pleasure, it was also fine.

So I stood up and took a deep breath.

Despite seeming calm, I was quite disturbed. I had no idea what happened. Absolutely no idea. This island was a private island of our school, so there couldn't have been anyone without authorisation here.

Another thing is - what was it that the man wanted? The redhead took out something small in the hotel, it was round, but other than that I saw nothing else. I was blocking it with his own body, deliberately, so that I wouln't see. He was hiding something and it had to do something with that madman chasing after that.

I looked at the sleeping boy - he didn't have a bag or anything of that sort so I assumed he had that orb in his pocket. Carefully, I reached out for it and-

"Asano-kun!"

I immediately stopped and turned around to see a certain blue haired boy walking towards us. It seems he didn't notice what I was trying to do.

"Shiota," he stood up, acknowledging his presence.

"I found a large tree a bit further from here, I think it's a good place to stay for a while so-" he stopped when he saw Karma unconsciouss, and a panicked expression appeared on his face: "What happened?!"

"He got dizzy so he sat down and fell asleep," I replied calmly and looked at my baby brother.

The E-class student weakly nodded: "Is that so,"

I was still watching the redhead. "Yes," the rise of his chest, his peaceful face...

Indeed.

Such an idiot.


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello guys, I know I'm incredibely late but at last, here is the next chapter! We are finally having a (although small) break from school and I managed to finish this! It's longer than usual chapters which I think you all will welcome :D**

 **By the way, thank you so much for the encouraging reviews. I love you all so much and I'm glad you aren't so angry with me, I know how frustrating it is not to have a story updated in such a long time. So I want you to know I really appreicate you!**

 **Guest: You asked if Koro-sensei can speak Latin - Not telling youuu XD**

 **Alright, that's it I guess! ENJOYY!**

* * *

Third Person's P.O.V.

Asano Gakushuu wasn't as perfect as everyone expected him to be. Sure, when it cames to grades, sports and charms, there was hardly any flaw anyone could find. He made sure to study every day, every time he could to stay the best, not even once skipping the classes or judo and any other sport trainings keep fit, fast and strong. But the thing is - he never hesitated to use underhanded tactics to achieve his goals, despite it being his principle to fight fair and square, and lied when he deemes it to be neccesary. Which was quite often, honestly. When he manipulated his classmates and even teachers, for example.

Or like now.

Karma was sending him death glares for waking him up not _half_ an hour later but _an hour_ later. It seems the younger one had his phone as well (no signal, however) and checked the time.

Really, what a drama queen.

It's not like the strawberry had done it out of any ill intention, quite the opposite. He wanted to give the redhead enough time to rest up because he knew that once awake, Karma would very gladly go and strain himself while happily singing that he was oh "so fine".

Overprotective, exaggerating and irrationally melodramatic?

 _Yes,_ his younger brother would deadpan, incredibely annoyed.

 _No_ , Asano would say, smacking him while explaining why he was right and Karma wasn't.

Either way, they were all back at feet again, heading to the potential hideaway which Nagisa has found while going on his patrol earlier. It was truly too fortunate to stumble on one immediately, but none of them said anything and Asano silently rejoiced when he saw a large, hollow trunk with enough space.

"Shelter - check. What now?" The redhead snickered sarcastically, looking at his classmate.

The said boy just shrugged, offering a somewhat reassuring smile despite not having any plan either. Gakushuu decided to stick to his part of this play and stayed away from them, walking behind. The two E-class students were joking about how "comfortable and safe" this place seemed.

"I mean seriously, how is a tree trunk going to save us from that guy's bombs and whatever else he has?" Karma exclaimed in what sounded like absolutely amused tone but his older brother has heard it too many times already to be fooled. More than anything else, it was a serious question.

"Can you two please be silent for a bit," Asano finally snapped, not wanting to hear any of the complaints anymore. Sure, they were exasperated and scared, but so was he.

However, it most certainly did not seem like Akabane wanted to comply. He cocked his head and grinned at the strawberry blonde: "What is it, Asano-kun? Afraid?" he slowly walked closer. "Don't worry, if you stick to us, we will surely prote-"

The boy stopped out of sudden, looking very focused and frowning. His lack of words baffled the strawberry haired student but he didn't dare say anything as the boy still seemed like he was thinking about something really hard.

A whole minute passed and Asano just didn't care anymore: "What?"

"Did you hear that?" his tone was careful, eyes still darting from one place to another in search of... something.

"Hear what?" Nagisa Shiota joined the conversation.

"A click. I think I heard a click. Something," his brows furrowed but then relaxed: Or maybe I just... imagined it or something. Yeah," Karma waved his hand, wearing a cheerful expression again. He looked around once again but then quickly beckoned his friends to nestle in the tree trunk.

Now, they were sitting ducks.

Awkward silence befell on the three and since Gakushuu had nothing better to do, he returned to the core of this all.

"Who is that guy?"

Both the E-class students inconspiciously (or at least they tried, a certain person noticed anyway) glanced at each other. Asano realized that there was, obviously, something they knew but he did not which irritated him to no end.

"We don't know," finally, the blue haired boy answered. His words sounded true but there again, so did Gakushuu's when he lied.

"But you know what he wants," he pressed the matter harder.

Their body language was quite well controlled but there were small indications of nervosity which the A-class student did not miss.

"And you have it, don't you, Akabane?"

His younger brother rolled his eyes, sighing as if in defeat. The older one took it that Karma was just trying to buy himself more time to think of a legit excuse though: "Whatever are you talking about, oh-you-great Asano-kun?"

Despite his act being flawless this time, the hesitation from before was enough of an answer to Gakushuu. He wondered what that thing could have been that someone would put so much effort into getting it. Money? _No_ , he rejected that idea, _where would the E-class get it from_.

He searched for anything plausible - some artefact? Or secret information? No matter what he thought of, none fitted completely to what was happening.

"What could the infamous End class have in possession to draw attention of a, what should I call him, complete madman? As the student president and also someone who was unwillingly dragged into this situation, I demand to know. Now."

Karma snorted at that: "Unwillingly? _You_ ran after us and the last time I checked, Nagisa-kun isn't capable of dragging people who are twice as much taller than him against their will," He turned at the said boy: "Sorry, Nagisa,"

"For what? Calling me weak or short?"

"I didn't exactly _say_ that!"

"You _implied_ it! Come on, Karma-kun, you know that's not funny."

And yet the bluehead grinned.

"Actually! I-"

"Enough with that, we have more important things to discuss!" they were interrupted by a certain person whose veins started popping on his left temple.

"You are being too tense, Asano-kun. Loosen up!" The redhaired deliquent grinned. It was hard to say whether it was his way of reassuring the other or to piss him off even more. Because seriously.

"Loosen up?! There's a guy with explosives going after us and you tell me to _loosen up_?!"

Gakushuu couldn't deal with this shit anymore. This whole situation was unlogical, totally insane and he hated things that didn't make sence. Never, ever, have things _not_ made sense to him. Therefore, this was painful and unbearable.

"He's right, though, Asano-kun. There is nothing we can do at this moment," Nagisa nodded in agreement. "So we should calm down instead of flipping out.

The strawberry blonde stared at the bluenette for a very long time, very well aware of the fact that his glare was quite threatening. He already hated this boy. Apart from the fact that he was defying the student president, _daring_ to speak to him so disrespectfully, he was too... ordinary, almost dense, Asano would probably say. Also, that wanna be kind attitude of his was pissing him off, it felt as though he counted on that everyone would succumb to his 'angelic smile', as if he thought of himself to be a pure and loveable being.

It disgusted him.

And so did his brother's friendship with that failure.

Asano rolled his eyes in pure disdain and stood up, leaving before his brain would rot from all the stupidity inside.

Despite it being probably past three a.m., he could already see quite well in the morning light. The air wasn't chilly at all but a little humid which in a way irritated him. The boy stood in front of the hideout for some time, breathing in and out, his mind completely blank. He would get his answers later from his younger brother, for now, they were going to stay somewhere safe and hopefully survive whatever was happening.

* * *

While the strawberry blonde was taking his time outside, the two E-class were discussing their options.

"I think we're in trouble," Karma said casually, his eyes scanning outside to make sure Gakushuu didn't hear them.

"You _think?!_ " the bluenette shrieked with horror in his eyes. "We are lost in a forest with an assassin chasing after us and Koro-sensei in the pitiful state he is now, with Asano-kun who doesn't and mustn't know about him, and you _think_ we are in trouble?!"

The other one chuckled nervously, knowing full well just in what shit he got himself to.

"Don't laugh! Karma-kun, I'm serious, what do we do?!" Nagisa-kun carried on his rant, despite him being the one to tell the student council president not to "flip out" just a while ago. He did a good job maintaining his composure but frankly speaking, he was panicking - maybe even more than the other two together.

Although the redhead seemed absolutely unfazed, his thoughts were racing as well, yet putting that calm mask down was not something he could do.

"Why did you come after me?" he asked finally, biting his lip.

"What?" the confusion was apparent in the other's eyes.

"You were supposed to stay behind," Karma started, not knowing what exactly he was trying to imply because honestly, had they not come, he would have been probably long ago caught and gutted by that guy. But at least, then only he would be gutted, not Nagisa, not Gakushuu.

"I should have been alone. You shouldn't have gone after me. Ugh, Nagisa-kun, you utter idiot, why?"

The blue haired boy's face was full of surprise, a small smile breaking on his lip: "You are worried."

"Of course I am!" he snapped.

 _Well, that is new,_ the smaller one remarked internally, aware of the fact that it actually wasn't new.

"You know, Karma-kun, even if I hadn't, Asano-kun still would. For some reason he decided to chase after you two as well, so letting him go alone wouldn't do. Besides, you are my friend. Friends are supposed to stick together and protect each other."

"That's right, Karma-kun! Only with friends and allies can you stand against the enemy!" A familiar, obnoxious voice suddenly interrupted their conversation and both of the boys turned their attention to it.

The redhead has almost forgotten - the reason they were on a runaway - Koro-sensei was still in his pocket. He took the orb out, revealing the strange form of their teacher. He was wearing an optimistic smile which annoyed the heck out of his students.

"Oh thank goodness, I thought I was going to suffocate!" he exclaimed after finally getting to see something different than absolutely nothing.

"You do realize what position we are in, don't you?" Karma asked with his tone dangerously low.

"Of course, I was here the whole time! And I heard everything you said!"

At that, the deliquent remembered his conversation with his older brother, slightly paling. No mention of their relation, right? They were also speaking in Latin... did Koro-sensei know Latin? He didn't know. Heck, how could he be so reckless?!

"Great, so tell us Koro-sensei, what should we do from now on?" The bluenette was oblivious of the inner conflict of his fellow classmate, which was great by the way, because Karma wasn't sure just how much more he would be able to withstand.

Sweatdrops started running down the octopus' face, his eyes darting from one place to another.

"What are we going to do!" Nagisa-kun shook the orb a few times, demanding an answer.

"I DON'T KNOW!" their teacher at last replied, a strong stream of tears running down his... whatever it was - face? Body?

While pitifuly sobbing, he explained: "My dear students, as long as I am in this form, I cannot help you. The wisest option would be to hand me over to the assassin, he might get tired of goin-"

"Out of question," Karma cut him off immediately, "we didn't put so much into this whole trip just to let you get taken by some random guy. No. Not happening, not after all the class has done."

Those words made Nagisa reconsider his last two years he had known Akabane. Of course, he knew that the boy was actually very caring despite his cold, devilish reputation, yet to see him openly show affection, so eagerly trying to protect his and the whole class' effort, giving them another chance to assassinate Koro-sensei when he transformed back- it warmed his heart.

"But then! You three will be in danger! And sensei won't be there to-"

"We can manage, no, Nagisa-kun?" the redhead smiled reassuringly at his friend, getting a nod. Although both of them were quite frightened just a while ago, the small conversation they just had with their teacher gave them newly found resolution.

"We should be fine, but..." The bluenette's gaze wandered outside, "Asano-kun - what do we do about him?"

"He will be fine too, that guy's a martial arts master. The problem are his constant questions. Koro-sensei, we can't keep him in dark for too long and when you transform back- what then? He's not stupid so we need a lie good enough for him to buy."

For a long time, none of them said a thing.

"Indeed, Asano-kun is a great problem," the yellow octopus sighed, "ugh, this is too hard! I could try hypnotising him?" It sounded like a joke but he was actually serious.

The two teenagers didn't know that, of course, glaring holes into their teacher at the stupid suggestion. Suddenly, the shortest one yawned - it was very late (or actually early) after all.

Noticing that, Karma sighed: "Koro-sensei, for now just stay quiet. Don't speak, do not do anything at all. If you do, I swear I will put hundred seaslugs and worms on you."

And ignoring the shriek, he put sensei into his best friend's hands: "You take him, I'm not good at keeping things."

The truth was, he did not want to have anyone listening to his private chats with a certain strawberry blonde. Nagisa only nodded and hid the orb in his pants pocket.

"Nagisa-kun, take a nap, you're tired. I will be on watch," the younger one (yes, he was younger since he did skip a year) announced.

"But you're injured and also ti-"

"I slept a while ago, I'm fine. The concussion is nothing I can't bear with. Now sleep while you can."

And with that, he shoved the runt down, not giving him a chance to protest. Although Nagisa felt guilty about having to leave his friend on his own (or not really, Asano-kun was there too), he indeed was almost seeing double, with him not being used to sleep deprivation.

Two minutes later he was out cold.

Karma made himself comfortable, leaning on the trunk and closing his eyes. His shoulder was killing him and so was his head. Okay, he said it was nothing he couldn't withstand, which is true, but neither did it feel any better. Instead, he found it harder and harder to focus, to think of any plan at all. Fighting also didn't seem as much of a good idea because if he were to just stand up now, it would take him a while before his vision stopped swimming.

He stayed motionless and did his best to distract himself from the physical pain, making up excuses to tell his older brother. Alas, as mentioned, thinking straight was now not very easy.

The boy most certainly did not intend to drift unconscioussness since he was supposed to be on guard but his body screamed otherwise. Occasionally he would pinch himself, open his eyes again, but every time the dizziness and fatigue hit him harder and harder, until he unwillingly drifted into unconscioussness.

* * *

Gakushuu wandered around just for the sake of doing something. Sitting or standing in one place left him feel absolutely powerless and useless. He needed to move, let the frustration out. He took at least ten minutes doing that and when he realized just how long he left the other two unsupervised, he returned back.

Or at least he tried to.

"Don't move," a rough, deep voice ordered him, pinning a cold blade under his chin.

Gakushuu cursed mentally, realizing what was happening.


	19. Chapter 19

**Hello, Satsuki's back! I am sorry for the delay, I really am! Honestly speaking I've been engaging in lots of activities lately - taking up violin, chemistry competition and I'm doing my german certificate this month. It's quite a lot but at least I managed to write something down :)**

 **I thank you all for the reviews and support, I know it's unbearable when the updates suddenly get so irregular and slow, but please bear with me. I really am trying to keep up and I assure you that I still love Assclass and the characters. I have some plot twists planned so I'm not abandoning this! Don't worry and stay tunned XDD**

 **Lots of love, your Satsuki!**

* * *

Asano's P.O.V.

"Don't move,"

The sudden violation of the tranquility I was engulfed in just a while ago sent chills down my spine.

Someone had crept from behind me without my knowledge. And now I was on mercy to that crazy killer. My mind went through countless of ways how to fight back but all of that was quite useless with the knife so close to my artery, the attacker out of my vision and most probably twice of my own weight (which in combat played quite a significant role). I also doubted that I would be able to take this most certainly trained man on my own, taking into consideration that my ankle still kind hurt from the fall.

"What do you want," I asked carefully, not giving off the tension building up in my chest.

"You know what I want, now give it to me before I reconsider and decide to cut off a finger or two of yours," the guy hissed.

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about,"

The knife under my neck was now pressed even closer and I felt it cut through my skin, blood drops falling down. Not a very pleasant feeling, not so surprisingly.

"Don't play dumb, give it to me this very instant. I have lost too much time playing hide and seek with you lot," the tone of his sounded extremely poisonous and irritated.

Obviously I couldn't afford to anger him anymore but that was currently more or less impossible, since he wanted something from me and I didn't know what that was.

Either way, I did my best to sound as truthful as possible: "Look, I really don't know what you want. I am just-"

"Oh, you won't fool me, brat. You or one of those classmates of yours have him, isn't that right?" his hold on me tightened. "Who has it? You? The redhead? That blue midget?"

I suspected it was my brother who had that _something_ in possession but hell, what was I supposed to say? If I repeated that I had no fucking idea what that fucktard was on about, he would very gladly gut me right then and there. He was way too near and in advantage for me to strike back. This was seriously, seriously bad.

While my stream of thoughts whirled around in my head, it seems his patience already wore off: "Not up to speaking? Oh, I will make you-"

But before he could even start with - what was it that he threatened be before, cutting off fingers? - a somewhat sweet yet very sick voice interrupted him: "Wait a wee bit,"

It was from behind so I couldn't see the person approaching us, but the man who had me trapped turned around, his hold slightly loosening up. I took the small chance and disarmed him in a quick motion, the knife falling down. In the second he had yet to realize what happened, I freed myself and ran as quick as possible.

My ankle burnt as hell so it was extremely hard to adjust to the diverse surface of the forest full of broken branches and stones all around. I heard steps of two man behind me, to my displeasure getting closer and closer, accompanied with curses and death threats.

Obviously I couldn't outrun them. So I decided to fight. Before, I couldn't do that because of the distance and the weapon too close to my vitals. But martial arts was my forte and taking two men would, although of course not that easily as usual, be managable. Besides, after having to deal with Karma's dirty tricks, I was sure there wasn't anything left to surprise me in a fight.

Stopping in my tracks, I stood in a combat posture, fists ready. They noticed and did the same, attacking right away.

The first few seconds went very well for me. I successfully protected myself and even managed to strike once in a while. They were both pretty pissed off, all right, fuming like chimneys and eyes giving off their desire to cut me into small pieces and throw them to sharks.

Well, it seems they would get to fullfil that pursuit of theirs.

I made the mistake by trying to kick them when I forgot I was unstable on the other leg. They saw the sudden disbalance and used it. With one hard punch, I ended up on the ground, coughing, feeling so sick the world was spinning.

"This brat will fucking suffer," I didn't see anyone of them, only the leather boots they were wearing, but I recognized this voice as that of the first guy who found me. The one with blue eyes and knives. And the one who attacked us at the hotel. And just before. And now. The point is - I was screwed.

"You can do whatever you want with him later, for now-" the disgustingly-sweet-voiced guy pulled me by the colar of my shirt, making it harder for me to breathe properly, "Where is that thing?"

I now saw properly into face of the second man. And I realized I have already seen him in the documents of Kunigigaoka's new teachers (in this case, the former teacher).

Akira Takaoka, assigned to teach the E-class PE. He was formerly in the army. It has always struck me why he would suddenly be hired at school, to have such _failures_ on to teach on top of that.

He looked completely different from the photos though. There were new scars on his fat face, ugly and big, and his eyes completely mad. His hair was a mess and his chin looked like forgot how to shave. Most people would probably shrink in fear having to look him in the eyes from such proximity, but I felt disdain in my stomach. This person was a wacko. The guy with knives and explosives at least looked like someone with a brain, Takaoka reminded me more of a psychiatric patient on loose.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," I repeated for the -what- 10th time in the last half an hour. "And even if I did know, I don't have it,"

"This little-" the other one (I will call him the knife guy) tried to step in but got abruptly stopped.

"Can't be helped, can it? You don't belong to the E class. I recognize you, kid. Asano Gakushuu, son of Asano Gakuho, isn't it?" His smile got even more twisted. "You indeed are a splitting image of the chairman."

With that, he threw me down and then put a leg on my chest, the weight making it feel like he was crushing my ribs.

"Your daddy made me really angry, you know? He humiliated me and then fired me,"

I hated my father and all, but that was like the one decision he made that I did understand and approve of.

"Don't you think he deserves a punishement?"

Well of course I do, but I didn't like where this was going.

"What if he for example didn't get his beloved only son back? Hm? That would be nice. That would be perfect. Would it hurt him? Would it make him beg on his knees?"

Okay, I know I must have been made, but I couldn't help but laugh at that:

"In your dreams," I snickered but earned myself a kick in the side.

"What is so funny," Takaoka hissed, his leg ready to hit me again.

"Your naivity, that's what's funny," Aaaand yeah, there goes a broken rib. But I couldn't shut my mouth up, could I?

"My father wouldn't give a shit about me. He'd actually be rather happy to have someone punish me for the failure at the exams,"

This bitter remark was meant only to myself but both of the men heard it. The psycho then chuckled in a somewhat satisfied way, making me sit and then bending down on the same level as me.

"And here I thought you were the spoilt little golden boy. Seems like the chairman made your life hard as well."

He took my chin to look me in the eyes: "Don't you want to make him pay? We can work together. You will help us get what we want and we will help you with revenge. Doesn't that sound great? Doesn't it?"

Despite the offer being quite interesting, I had more things on my mind, much more important than revenge (which would by the way one hundred percent fail anyway, coz this was my _father_ ). The safety of my baby brother for example.

That's why I refused.

"What do we do with him?" The knife guy suddenly asked as I lay leaning on the tree.

They weren't even trying to hold me down anymore, I think that the pain and fatigue were quite apparent now so they believed I wouldn't be able to just stand up and run again any time soon.

"He is from the A class, those shits don't know a thing."

"So he's useless?"

It took a minute for Takaoka to answer. But when he did, I got chills.

"No," he turned to his buddy, "he can make a good hostage. But before that, he will have to be my punching bag. I need to relieve all the frustration and hatred. You don't mind, do you?"

I actually did but heyy it's not like I had any right to object, did I?

Have I said this guy was a psycho?

* * *

Karma's P.O.V.

We knew something was wrong.

Gakushuu hasn't returned for more than fifteen minutes already so we went around to search for him. He was nowhere near and I feared something has happened to him.

"Nagisa-kun, you got anything?" I called out in despair, not knowing what to do. My brother was not someone to idle around for long while there was danger lurking outside. He was much smarter than that.

"I'm sorry, Karma-kun. Nothing. Do you think he was-"

"I don't know," I tried to ignore the expression Nagisa-kun was giving me. I didn't want to even think of what would happen if he indeed were captured.

Sure, Gakushuu was a very good fighter, a smartass as well, but his arogance is also quite a problem (now I see the family resemblance). Not to mention assassins were something completely different from controlled fighting in judo and other martial arts. Here you were supposed to strike the opponent right away, one quick motion. No fight. Just killing.

But they wouldn't kill him, an innocent (weeeell...) student, right?

Either way, the knots in my stomach only grew more and more. To the point I was getting sick. No, seriously, I felt sick. Might be the concussion.

I gulped, supressing the urge to throw up and collapse, instead focusing on a much more important issue.

Where would he go?

I decided to follow my instincts. No other option right now and just standing in one place with anguish eating you up was no good.

"Koro-sensei, what should we do?" I heard Nagisa-kun asking behind me.

Our teacher however had no smart thing to say or a tip we could follow. He was also sweating, made me wonder how he could even breathe with such isolation. Did he even breathe?

"This is indeed a bad situation. Try climbing up a tree and look around? Or not, the forest is quite de-"

"Asano-kun!" I called out, not even feeling up to listening what the yellow thing had to say. I knew that it was one of the stupidest but also best things to do. Stupid because we would attrack attention. Best _because_ we would attract attention - as well. The difference was only _whose_ attention. I hoped it would be the strawberry blonde's.

We searched for at least twenty minutes. Going around and shouting (me).

Then I caught a glimpse of something shiney. I walked closer towards the thing on the ground, picking it up.

It was a knife.

"Nagisa-kun! I've got something!" my voice was hoarse from all the shouting.

The bluehead ran to me, taking a good look at the weapon: "That's the assassin's knife. I saw it hanging off his belt."

Around the place we stood, the grass was quite damaged from being stepped on. I could safely asume two people were here.

I cursed.

So Gakushuu really was in trouble.

"We need to follow the footsteps," I declared and immediately focused on any piece of ground that had anything resembling traces of people walking.

I found lots of broken branches as well and that was all I needed. It didn't even take five minutes and I heard noises.

One of them being the my brother's pained voice.


	20. Chapter 20

Third Person's P.O.V.

 **HELLO HELLO I KNOW, THIS IS VERY LATE! BUT ALSO EXTRA LONG!**

 **I want to thank you all for supporting me and being so patient, it really makes me so incredibly happy T.T I really do try to write as much as I can but sometimes I just don't manage and the time is so fast...**

 **Anyway, it's pretty late now and tomorrow I'm most probably running 2,5 km on PE so wish me luck! I hope I don't die XD**

 **I love you all :)**

* * *

"Is he still alive?"

The question lingered in the air for a while and the professional assassin was getting a bit unsettled by the lack of answer.

Takaoka on the other hand couldn't care less. He crouched down and turned the limp body of a certain boy, taking his pulse: "Most probably,"

That wasn't the most reassuring thing. The black-haired assassin frowned: "I know you hired me to get that thing no matter what, but I don't really like killing kids. My job is to take down the bad guys. Not students."

"So what?" the former teacher grunted.

"You beat that boy to unconsciousness. He looks real bad," he pointed out.

"But he's not dead, so what's your problem," Takaoka grinned, his mad eyes creeping the latter out. He knew that this guy wasn't right in his head but he promised to pay big money so why not take up the job?

Yet when he looked down at the brat, he didn't really feel so sure anymore. Okay, just a while ago he wanted to do the same but that was just a "want" of his momentary rage. He still had some clarity and conscience and he knew that this kid was just trying to save its neck running away, even if it was by fighting them.

The big guy on the other hand was blinded by revenge and didn't give a crap about the consequences.

"Let's focus on our objective," he in the end tried to change the subject. "How do we get that thing?"

"Don't worry. The other two will be here in no time. I made sure to leave them some traces which would lead them here. Until then, make sure this one doesn't run away," Takaoka nodded towards the strawberry blonde, his face twisting in satisfaction.

He was so looking forward to playing with the E-class students. With a certain blue haired midget to be particular. He couldn't help but smile at the thought of having him pathetically beg for his dear life, head on the ground eating dirt, the simple thought of kicking him, punching, breaking every of his bone.

How magnificent.

Beautiful.

While Takaoka was busy coming up with things he could put Nagisa through, the assassin took care of the strawberry blonde. He didn't see the point in tying him up too much since the poor boy was already too injured to even move on his own. There was blood oozing from his forehead, bruises forming on almost every part of his body - not a nice look. His breathing was slow and careful and the man wondered whether he should be worried about a punctured lung.

In the end, he couldn't bring himself to make the breathing any more difficult for the student by tying him up with ropes, only binding his hands behind his back. Other than that, he put the boy into a more comfortable and hopefully safer position, having him slightly leaned on a tree.

Well, Asano honestly did appreciate that.

By the way, he was not dead.

Neither was he unconscious. Though he kind of hoped he was because his whole body was screaming in pain.

Yet all his wounds weren't as bad as they seemed.

Gakushuu wasn't stupid. Nor was he new to fights. He learned long ago how to protect himself if he was getting beaten (which never really happened but well, always better to know). So when Takaoka released all his bottled frustration on the boy, he made sure to protect his organs, moved away from the blows ever so slightly so that it wouldn't be visible and of course, pretended to faint when he though the madman was almost done. Obviously, he then had no other option than to stay limp for a while and take the hits directly until his attacker noticed the change and stopped.

It must have worked greatly, hearing the conversation from before and realizing that the knife guy didn't actually fancy murders.

So no, hopefully no broken bones, no punctured lung or concussion.

He still hurt though.

There was suddenly something touching his head which he soon recognized as the assassin's attempt to stop the bleeding from the wound. This really did surprise him - the fact that his own attacker was so worried about his well being.

"What the hell are you-" Takaoka suddenly asked as he saw that, getting promptly cut off.

"I said I don't want dead innocent kids on my neck. It's not like he's gonna wake up any time soon," The man in front of Gakushuu hissed as he finished sloppily wrapping bandage around his forehead.

He heard the former teacher inhaling to probably retort something nasty back, but that was soon drowned down by the loud yells coming from somewhere in the front.

"HEY ASANO!" the voice called out repeatedly. "WHERE ARE YOU?!"

It belonged to Karma. (And Shiota)

If Asano could, he would have cursed.

Sure, he was in trouble and right now couldn't but rely on someone else's help. But his younger brother was currently not an option. He was injured and there were two professional fighters here, armed. The redhead might have grown up fighting, but that was against stupid bullies who could only talk big - Karma didn't get the proper training like Gakushuu. He hasn't faced such danger yet.

And he doubted Shiota Nagisa could be of any use at all.

"Lookie who came to rescue their friend," The crazy nutjob said in his overly sweet tone. "Time for revenge,"

The strawberry blonde felt sweat on his back as he heard the _clang_ of metal - probably knives. The calls have not ceased and they seemed to get closer and closer, though slowly. He didn't dare open his eyes yet in fear he would be spotted, but assumed that both men were already alert and facing away from him in order to see the other two teens coming.

What he had not anticipated was someone sneaking up from behind.

That's why he slightly jerked at the touch on his wrist when that someone tried to undo the ropes. But judging from the fact that someone had the guts to do it, he was most likely out of the two men's view.

Gakushuu then opened his eyes and slightly moved his head to spot blue hair. It dawned on him then, what their plan was. Stupid, but feasible. Karma would distract the adults there whereas Shiota was supposed to get him. So they must have known about the fact the footsteps and other stuff was set up.

Maybe they were even watching the whole time. Maybe they saw what happened.

If that really was the case, he doubted Karma would limit himself only to this rescue plan. Actually, it was safe to assume he would take a little bit more violent approach.

Back to what was happening - Nagisa widened his eyes at the sudden realization that the student he was trying to rescue was in fact still conscious. On the other hand, he felt much better - less tense, maybe even delighted, as it saved him the hardest part - dragging Asano's dead weight away from the scene.

He didn't have a hard time cutting off the restrains - Karma has after all given him the knife - but he still wasn't quick enough.

The assassin felt something was off as he stood there, prepared for the attack. Because despite the fact he had actually waited long enough, the sound of their call was somewhat still the same and it didn't seem like they were getting significantly closer.

That's why he turned around in suspicion.

And once he saw the two boys were just ready to run off, he alerted Takaoka and they were both about to charge in and stop the students. They immediately abandoned that idea though once they caught a quick glimpse of something red from behind.

"Karma-kun!" Nagisa cried out in panic, knowing that this wasn't going to end well.

The redhead was supposed to distract them with the voice recordings (yes, those calls were recorded on Karma's phone). Getting into a fight in order to buy them time was not the plan.

And yet he did it. Most people would probably think he was stupid or too rash, but the boy was very well aware of the situation. Yet his brother and best friend were in danger and two lives were worth more than one, so off he went.

Oh well, maybe he was a bit too rash.

The E-class student attempted to kick Takaoka's head off - too bad the guy managed to dodge. On the other hand, the boy managed to really anger the former teacher, making him momentarily forget the target and immediately trying to strike back. Karma's crazy reflexes prevented him from getting his guts punched out of himself but there were two of them and his head was spinning, his stomach floating and he thought he was going to be sick from all the quick movements.

Despite all that, he was still hanging on with sheer will.

While he was keeping those two occupied, Nagisa helped Asano get out of the scene far enough to be safe and then told him to stay there. The student council president would have loved to argue and get back there to help, but he himself knew that the beating he got there didn't really leave him unscathed.

"Asano-kun, I know this all is crazy and scary, but please just keep calm and stay here, alright?" The bluenette forced out a reassuring smile though he himself was anxious. "I will... we will be right back. Just, uh, hide,"

And with that, he sprinted back, trying to think of a plan.

Still, this was unbelievable.

Takaoka-sensei has returned. And both he and Karma knew why. It wasn't only Koro-sensei that he wanted - he yearned for revenge on Nagisa. He wanted to _make him suffer for ruining his carrier._ That's what he heard when they were close enough - and while the man was letting all his anger out on the poor A-class student. He still remembered the pure rage he felt and the murderous vibe from Karma. But they couldn't have done anything without messing up. So they just stood there. And waited.

Now was different.

Now, Asano was out of the men's reach.

And Karma was fighting on his own.

"Nagisa-kun, you all need to fall back. There's no chance for you two!" Koro-sensei cried out from his pocket.

"I know, sensei. But we can't do that right now. They would get us in no time. The only possible option is to fight."

Though he had no idea whether they would survive. Honestly, they were too disadvantaged. Just saying.

"Takaoka-sensei!" he screamed so loudly it made all three of them stop, "Who you want is me, isn't that right?!"

At that, the man indeed smirked and turned towards the bluenette: "So the shrimpy finally shows himself,"

Nagisa glanced around to see Karma standing on a tree branch, heavily breathing. He couldn't say who as winning this fight because at the moment, both the assassins looked just as tired and the redhead still ready to go. He most probably used his agility and speed to attack them and to protect himself by staying near to the tree and jumping back to safety when needed. His eyes were still focused. Not only that. He looked furious.

This was good. They still had some chance.

Maybe.

"Let's settle this calmly. We will give you Koro-sensei, but you have to guarantee that you won't harm any of us," he tried his best to sound confident, though he was actually pretty much shaken inside.

Giving Koro-sensei didn't seem like an option yesterday, but at this moment, it seemed like the most rational thing to do.

Yet Karma didn't really like that idea. He frowned and was about to reject it, but Takaoka was quicker.

"Hah! You wish! I don't care about that octopus," he cocked his head in an extremely disturbing way, "What I want is your head."

And not sparing even one second, he charged off at the teen. Obviously, the boy didn't really manage to protect himself and got punched in the stomach real hard.

"NAGISA-KUN!" Karma shouted out together with a few curses, jumping down from the tree to go and help his friend, but got immediately stopped by the assassin. The deliquent glared at him with eyes so murderous it sent shivers down the man's spine. But getting that alien thing and assisting Takaoka was his job, one which he had accepted and which he must carry out.

Even if it meant fighting against minors.

Though this one most certainly didn't feel like a normal, harmless student.

More like a fucking demon from the hell. Because that's how dark the aura around him was when he fighted. He was quick, strong and yet smart. He didn't waste energy at meaningless attacks (well he didn't initially, the blind rage was starting to take over now though), he analyzed his opponent and took advantage of anything at all, even if it meant "cheating".

He wasn't an assassin. He was a fighter. That's why the knife guy didn't like him. Because fighting was not his forte but it was Karma's.

The redhead's focus was however repeatedly shattered when he heard Nagisa coughing and gagging after each hit from the former teacher. He could feel blood boiling inside him. How dare that asshole hurt not only his brother, but also his best friend?!

He shouldn't have looked there though. In that split moment of hesitance, the man hit him in the head and sent Karma to a trip to the Dizzyland featuring concussion, nausea and momentary blackout.

His friend wasn't doing any better.

"I'm going to chop off every of your fingers," Takaoka kicked into the bluenette, "cut up every part of your body," punched him again, sending the boy to the ground, "and I will keep them as a trophy!"

With that, he lifted and violently threw him even further from where the other two were right now. The maniatic laughter maddened him to the point his senses sharpened and he blanked out, a single thing in his head.

Assassination.

As he slowly sat up, he caught a glimpse of Karma getting lifted by his collar, completely limp.

 _Kill._

Takaoka felt that change. He suddenly remembered the cold blue eyes piercing through his very being. And now they were watching him again.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, HUH?!" He yelled madly but the latter stayed quiet.

He didn't have two weapons, but at this moment, it was the only thing left he could do.

The technique Lovro taught him.

Loudly and confidently, he walked towards the man, taking out the single blade which Karma managed to steal before. It was useless in his hands when it came to combat - he knew, because no matter how many times he tried, he couldn't even touch the man with it just now - but it was still a weapon which posed threat and therefore a perfect decoy. Thanks to that, once he was close enough, he dropped the knife. Together with it, Takaoka's attention slipped and at that split of a second.

 _Clap_

His whole mind and focus shattered, and he staggered, not even knowing what happened.

However, the absence of the second weapon could not be ignored. While he still could, the petite boy kicked the blackhead, making him lose balance and helplessly fall to the ground.

Nagisa didn't waste any time and immediately ran off to help his friend but to his surprise, the redhead was now standing (half leaning on a tree) fine (almost). The assassin on the other hand was unconscioussly sprawled on the ground.

"How...?" he gaped, disbelief evident in his voice.

"A bit of acting and choosing the right moment. But that's what I should be asking! What did you- how did you even do that?!" Karma grinned, proud of the shrimpy. That thing he did just now was pretty awesome.

He actually intended on saying that outloud but got promptly cut off when he noticed the movement behind Nagisa.

Realizing that Takaoka apparently wasn't completely done yet, he tried to warn his best friend and get there before anything happened: "NAGISA-KUN, LOOK O-"

But it wasn't him taking the man down. He was slow and dizzy from the injuries and Nagisa didn't see it coming. Yet the big body slumped down just as fast it rised, revealing another person standing behind him.

It was Asano.

"Ga- Asano-kun?!" Karma called out in surprise which was soon replaced by delight.

The bluenette turned around, realizing what has happened. The nutjob somehow managed to pull himself together before but now, he was lying face down in the dirt, eyes wide in shock and spit dripping from his mouth. He would have loved to be unconsciouss so that he wouldn't have to bear with this humiliation, but Nagisa's kick wasn't strong enough to actually knock him out, neither was Asano's as his own body screamed in pain too much to hit him hard enough. On the other hand, his body and mind was paralyzed.

"Pitiful, aren't you?" Karma made his way to the former teacher, his chin suddenly high and eyes dangerously cold.

The strawberry blonde knew for sure it meant nothing good: "Akabane, don-"

"Getting beaten up by a middle schooler no only once, but _twice_ ," he slowly shook his head in a disapproving way, "it must hurt a lot. Doesn't it?" by then, he stood right above Takaoka whose face morphed into something between horror and fury.

"Nee, doesn't it hurt?" the redhead kicked into the man's stomach, plastering a haunting smile on his lips.

"Karma-kun, what are you doing?!" Nagisa tried to stop him but got completely ignored.

"It does, doesn't it?" he kicked him again, this time harder, "Of course it hurts. But don't worry," he bent down to see into the man's eyes properly. Or rather, for the man to see all the murderous intend in _his_ eyes.

"I will make sure to give you something much more painful. Something to help you forget about your hurt pride," Karma whispered. The golden orbs usually held a mischeivous, playful glint - but now, it was anything but that. There was an uncontrollable fire yearning to burn everything in sight yet at the same time, they resembled a storm, a blizzard, deathly, stone-cold, unforgiving. Getting pierced by them sent Takaoka chills just as it burned him from the inside out. What was worse, he remembered feeling like this once before. On the school campus. The time he got fired.

"You won't be waken up by Nagisa-kun's merciful smile anymore. He's too kind, you know? But I-" Karm's long fingers harshly grabbed Takaoka's dark hair. " I am not. And you will pay for hurting him, my friends and even Asano,"

The next few minutes became a haze to all of them. Karma was too immersed in his rage to think rationally, the only thing he had in his mind was the sound of his brother's and friend's cries, the pain they have been inflicted, all the injuries they had now. Because of this man. Because of this motherfucking asshole.

The other two boys were literally frozen to the place. They were aware of what was happening - as if the violent noise wasn't enough to remind them - but it felt as though a demon would swallow them the very moment they dared move. Even breathing proved to be hard. Sweat was dripping down their spine. Sure, Nagisa has seen the redhead madly fighting already - against the bullies, the idiots who wanted to test his non existent patience - but the air around him right now as ten times darker and more dangerous.

Gakushuu was, however, very familiar with this particular aura Karma had around himself. And it terrified him even more than he thought was possible.

Because it was the same like with the chairman.

The same creepy smile, the same dangerous voice, the splitting image of a demon, a monster that lurks and waits for the right moment to kill you.

He never thought that it would be his childhish sunshine of a little brother to inherit this horrifying trait.

"AUGHHH!" the sharp scream pulled them both from their stream of thoughts and they refocused on the redhead, whose attacks have not ceased. Takaoka was black and blue by now and the yell right now was caused by another broken rib.

"KARMA, STOP!" Asano finally regained control over his legs and ran to his younger brother, forcing him away from the adult.

Nagisa followed him shortly, holding the teen's hands in one place in order to avoid any more injuries: "Karma-kun, please calm down!"

But it didn't work out that well.

Suddenly, a loud smack was heard. All the trashing immediately stopped, an eerie silence taking over for once.

The A-class student saw no other option than to slap him. His brother was absolutely out of his senses and plain speaking wouldn't do a single thing.

And it seemed to have done the magic.

The boy blinked a few times as if he had woken up from a dream, looking around and then locking his eyes with the student council president.

"I don't need you to go avenging me or anyone else for that matter. We're not dead. But you are if you don't fucking stop right now," he did his best to sound as authorative as possible, but frankly, he still felt frightened from the sight of Karma going berserk.

"We're fine, there's no need to..." the bluehead blurted out, slowly letting go of his hold, "no need to do such a thing,"

"I-" Karma wanted to say something but it was hard to explain what has just happened, "Sorry, I... what-" he for some reason couldn't remember why he did that. It was as if there was something controlling his body and his movements while his original self was only a spectator on the other side of the tunnel.

"Back to earth?" the strawberry blonde asked with a firm voice, his eyes staring into the latter's.

"Yeah..." he shook his head, maybe to get rid of all the remaning dark intention. "I'm sorry,"

"Takaoka-sensei is unconscious," Nagisa remarked as he inspected the man, "so is the as- the other one," he nodded towards the assassin about five meters away from them, still at the same place Karma left him when he beat him.

From far away, a strange noice suddenly reverberated.

Calls.

Voices.

Familiar voices.

"Isn't that-" the bluenette's face lightened in hope and he started calling out as well, together with the other two.

Soon, they could hear multiply footsteps and recognized figures running towards them.

"It was about the time," Karma sighed as he faced his classmates, Karasuma sensei in their lead.

* * *

 **Weeelll that's it. Dark Karma was very intersting to write XD I'm not sure whether you'd like that but I still wanted to include it. Please tell me what you think :)**

 **See yaa~**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hello my beloved readers! You all must hate me so much! Don't worry, I hate myself as well!**

 **I want to apologize for the delay and for the fact that I won't probably make you happy with this chapter. It's shitty, I'm shitty and I'm so sorry and I regret every minute of my life ever I'm so sorry T.T**

 **Okay, enough nagativity. About your reviews: Thank you so much for the love T.T I don't deserve it. Either way, I'm glad you guys liked dark Karma :) And don't worry, this isn't ending. Actually, I have some very important things on mind which _need_ to be included in this fic. So if you persist, I promise it will be worth it.**

 **Love, Satsuki.**

* * *

Karma's P.O.V.

When I woke up, the sky was already painted orange, the sun setting down. I noticed the fact that I was lying on a soft matress and that someone made the effort to nicely tuck me in the blanket. The room wasn't unfamiliar - I knew right away that this was the hotel room judging from the lights (they were same in all the rooms). And apart from that, the sound of sea was clear despite the strong wind.

Apparently, my body must have given out after taking care of the two assassins and after our class showing up. My memory was hazy when it came to things before or after that, but I didn't push it because it would come to me later anyway. And even if not, the others would remind me.

Oh, wait.

The others! Where were Gakushuu and Nagisa-kun?

It took some time, but I finally managed to peel myself off the bed. Testing how well my limbs moved (stiff, but more or less okay), I slowly walked towards the door and then opened it to get greeted by the sight of the hotel's hall. There were no people around to ask for direction, shame, but I went off nevertheless, hoping that along the way, I'd meet someone.

And I did.

"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be resting," The black haired teacher told me with a wanna be scolding tone, but his face too gentle and worried.

"I was, until I woke up and found myself alone in a room that wasn't mine,"

"Yes, yours is in the second floor and rather than hauling you all the way there, we thought it would be better to just take you to another room,"

"Okay, thanks," I nodded and winced at the sudden movement becase - haven't I said already? I always felt much worse after sleeping with a concussion.

"Whatever, where are Nagisa-kun and Asano-kun? Are they okay? What about the class? The gas wasn't dangerous, right?" my questions continuously fell on the teacher and he patiently answered all of them.

"Just like you, they didn't go unscathed, but apart from a few bruises, cuts and such things, they are alright. Nagisa-kun is still resting, Asano-san has woken up about an hour ago. He's probably in his room right now. And the class has recovered four hours after the attack, the effects were short termed."

Breathing out a sigh of relief, I thanked him.

However, there was an important issue that troubled me: "What did you tell Asano? And the the A-class?"

Karasuma-sensei didn't seem to be surprised by this question. That however didn't change the fact that his eyes bore the same uneasiness that I felt.

"The whole A-class was quite disoriented so we told them there was accidentally some alcohol mixed into their drinks. And as far as Asano-kun is concerned, we talked a bit. I didn't mention anything about the assassination, but explained that there were some things that were meant to stay a secret,"

I waited for more but Karasuma sensei just stared back at me in silence, then sighed and suddenly changed the topic, asking about my injuries. I patiently answered all his questions and obediently returned to my room without asking further (I know, weird).

Don't get me wrong, I was not being nice. I was just tired from standing there all the time and I knew that even if I tried to pry into the matter any more, it wouldn't do much.

While I was thankful that Gakushuu didn't know about the things we are doing in this class, it was a bit hard for me to imagine him taking this all in calmly without wanting to know more, without demanding an answer, _threatening_ to get it. Because he got involved, because both classes got involved. Because _I_ got involved. And over the years, I learnt that when it came to me, the strawberry blonde was extremely wary.

These thoughts discouraged me from actually visiting him.

Well, I could get some sleep.

Or play something.

* * *

Asano's P.O.V.

"Do you really think we got drunk? Like seriously, we? The elite, the pride of our school? _Drunk?_ " Ren was pacing in our room back and forth, having been on this rant for at least half an hour now.

Sure, I was his best friend, but I wanted to shoot him right now.

Yes, I knew it was a shit of an excuse to give us. Yes, I knew that it was weird that the barista would accidentaly mix the right amount of alcohol to _every_ coctail so that we would all pass out and forget what happened. And yes, I knew that I looked distracted and troubled.

No need to fucking remind me, Ren.

"You heard them. They even apologized. I don't really feel like dealing with this and I don't even care anymore, this trip is proving to be nothing but a waste of time and an incredible strain on my sanity. This is the maximum amount of stupidity I can withstand. Any more of their uncultured faces will result in numerous deaths by my own h-"

"Do you perhaps have hangover?" he suddenly interjected and I stopped, piercing him with my gaze. He flinched a bit, a natural reaction I'd say, but I sighed and let myself fall on the matress, hiding my face in a pillow.

"My head hurts as hell," I muffled into the pillow.

"Ah yeah, might be 'coz you never drank. I actually tried vodka before so I guess I am more tolerant? Anyway, I should probably just leave you be," The brunette whispered and was already on his way out of the room.

"That would be very considerate of you, thank you very much,"

And with that, the other one was gone.

Then I waited. One minute. Two. At the third, I was already sitting up, still looking out for the sound of his footsteps in case he decided to return. But there was nothing but silence, thanks god.

Of course, my head didn't hurt, I didn't have hangover because we never drank anything of that kind in the first place and either way, my tolerancy was higher than Ren knew. But that all was something no one would ever know. But I did need some time for myself. If not for the fact that acting natural when I had so many bruises under my shirt was hard, then at least because I liked silence better than Ren's endless speeches.

The thing is... I was confused. When the man - Karasuma Tadaomi - came to have a talk with me, I expected some kind of a clarification. Answers, which Karma never gave me. And I was sure he knew them. Yet the only thing that I got was more to dwell on.

 _"My name is Karasuma Tadaomi. I know you may still be in shock because of the things that have happened, but I need to discuss this matter with you,"_ he declared, his whole look and tone proffesional. I didn't say anything.

 _"I am 3-E's PE teacher, but the truth is, I am an agent from Ministry of defense,"_ at that, I slightly raised an eyebrow. It seemed pretty crazy back then - still does - but he looked so serious I didn't doubt he was saying the truth. And anyway, he was holding up his ID card with the words "Ministry od defense" clearly there.

 _"There is a certain reason I have to stay in the class. It also has something to do with what happened yesterday evening, but I cannot say what exactly."_

Obviously.

 _"What you have experienced was one of many terroristic attack which we are investigating,"_

Strictly speaking, I didn't really buy it. He could have looked proffesional and serious as much as he wanted, but from what I saw, heard and felt, this didn't seem like a random attack. The two vilians were making too much effort and - fortunately - they didn't even look like they wanted to kill us (maybe the former psycho teacher, but that guy is psycho). Also, from the very beginning, they wanted - what did they call it - a _monster._

It didn't make sense.

What monster? And what _is_ even a monster? My father? Hahaha... not funny.

 _"No one knows about this,"_

Lie. They knew. Both Shiota and Karma were well aware of what was going on. Actually, it seemed like everyone apart from him and his class knew what was going on.

 _"If you were to reveal anything about this, we will have to make you undergo an operation to erase your recollection concerning this matter,"_

I never knew there was any way to make a person lose memories, but well. Not all technological advancements were made public. Or he could be bluffing. Either way, it didn't faze me as much as the man might have wished it would.

 _"Your father knows about us and we will make sure to notify him about your and others' well being as well as explain what has lead to this commotion,"_

That sounds fine, except for the fact that _my father doesn't give a shit._

 _"We will make sure to cover up your treatme-"_

 _"I don't care, are they safe?"_ I interrupted him, because really. Money was the last thing that I, an Asano, son of the probably mightiest man in this town, needed.

 _"Excuse me?" the blackheaded male blinked._

 _"Are the students in danger?"_ I specified, _"because if yes, then this whole situation is unacceptable. And were something to happen, my father would have to take the blame."_

I was talking about my father for the effect, don't misunderstand my words for anything as pathetic as affection toward him. I would actually be more than glad if something preferably scandalous finally happened to him. But don't forget that I am the student council president and all students were my responsibility. E-class (ugh) not that much, but at this very moment, the A class was involved as well and if this was a long term thing, the B, C and D would as well.

Also, the idea of Karma being exposed to _anything_ similar to what we have gone through again made my blood boil.

I saw him injured before - that bastard liked to go and fight huge groups of deliquents like him. I was the one putting bandaids on his cuts, I was the one who made him the cold compress for fever or bruises. I was willing to touch his bloody nose, wash his puke out of his clothes, but I _refused_ to ever have to buy him a fucking coffin. I lost the figure mother already, I lost the figure of father, I lost the peace of home. I didn't need to lose the last person I have ever cared for.

 _"Yes, this time was an absolute exception. We make sure not to involve innocent students and to protect them,"_

The only thing I was capable of at that time was to silently nod, wishing that his words were a bit more than a reassurance.

 _"Are you going to talk about this with Shiota Nagisa and Akabane Karma as well?"_ I wanted to know.

 _"Of course,"_

 _"Do I have to keep quiet around them even if both of them went through the same?"_

 _"It would be wise not to dwell on it," he discouraged me._

He was talking as slowly, gravely, as if it were the third world war happening (which, as far as I knew, wasn't). It was kinda irritating actually, how patronising he sounded. But I guessed he indeed must have felt guilty for letting a bunch of kids be a subject of "terroristic attack", as he had said himself.

Ugh, nothing made sense anymore.

I just wanted to be in control again.

Just from that strict face, it was apparent that this man was not someone I could easily manipulate or persuade to tell me more. There was just no point in trying. So I pretended to believe him and excused myself.

That being said, my obedience didn't last long.

I have already decided from the very beginning to go and confront Karma about this. So here I stood, in front of his door, knocking once - resoluted to this time finally get the answers, knocking the second time - still trusting myself to be assertive enough, then third time, fourth time, fifth, yet each knock as if it sucked out any will left in me.

Don't ask. I don't get it either.

I guessed he was already wandering somewhere and considered looking for him. But in the end, I didn't.

* * *

We saw each other in the dinning room later though. He stepped in with Shiota Nagisa and a green haired girl, clearly in the middle of a very fun conversation. He was laughing and looked fine, even though only a few hours ago, he was ready to drop dead.

Then he saw me and it was as if the time stopped. Our eyes met shortly - one second, two at most - but I saw conflict in the redhead's orbs, something that told me this was going to be difficult.

He broke away first and returned to his group. And it felt as though he just decided to cut ties and leave me alone.

I don't know why.

But we didn't talk since then.

* * *

 **Alright, I know. Very short. Not much intersting. But to be honest, I felt that this was the best way to end the chapter. I must have surely disappointed you all and I am so so so sorry :( I will make sure to make it up to you, alright?**

 **Please forgive me T.T**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hi there! Here comes 22th chapter, filled ASANO AND FEEEELSSS**

 **I don't know if it's really feels but it certainly is something XD Just for sure, this chapter features season 2 episode 5 where the sport festival competition between A and E took place. And there was one scene which I _had_ TO WRITE BECAUSE HOLY COW ANGST.**

 **And about the reviews:**

 **Akuma-Sama2002: I really appreciate you being honest with me :) I know that was a bit of a drastic way to end it, but I kinda... needed it... for... uuhhhh. SORRY T.T I HOPE I WILL MAKE IT UP WITH THIS ONE?! (OR I WILL CREATE MORE BULLCRAP?!) No, I swear I made this one better XD**

 **Guest,** **DeviTX, Akano Tsuki, aster-bunny-bee: THANK YOU FOR NOT HATING ME! I surely would XD I will do my best to keep up the work, so don't worry! :)**

 **EvilAnimeWolf, Personofmanythings, Mystery0028: Thanks for supporting me, I'm literally the luckiest and happiest author on this site T.T**

 **Just a crazy fangirl: I speak 1% of French, that one percent being J'taime and Oui, but I typed your review into a translator (lots of random weird stuff coming out, but there were some words that actually made sense and were nice XD). Thank you!**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy XD**

* * *

Asano's P.O.V.

It has more than a week and half since the "vacation" with the E-class already and yet a few things regarding it were still heaving my mind. One of them being the secret they held (because I was _certain_ that the man Karasuma had lied about the E-class not knowing a thing). Or the fact that Karma did his utmost not to stay with me long enough for us to actually hold a conversation for more than 5 minutes.

The days were still the same, painfully so - waking up tired, studying at school, studying with other classmates, studying alone in the library, going home and keeping a barrier from my father, studying in my room, and sometimes sleeping. Actually, I have been taking much more additional classes and giving them as well, mainly because of the fiasco involving us losing our bet against the E failures. So basically, I never left school before 6 p.m. and even then had two or three more hours of instrument lessons or sportclub activities. And after that I had to also take care of student council and class president duties.

It was tiring, sure, but what bugged me the most was how dull my life has become, partially because I was also deprived of that one only way of winding out (messing around with my idiotic brother). It felt like I switched to an automatic button, answering before even thinking about it, moving on my own, pulling through the days and then crushing at 4 a.m. for one or two hours of sleep. But I was still number one in the whole school, the chairman had no complaints and others admired me as always, so I kept going, believing this was for the best.

But I was far from satisfied with myself. There was still the lingering threat of class E's rising confidence and power and my guts were telling me to smother it once for all.

The perfect opportunity came a few days later, when I received an anonymous letter (along with about 20 more love letters, but let's not dig into that) in a locker, saying that a particular student was seen working despite it being against the rules. That student being the very class president of the end class, Isogai Yuuma.

The restaurant's adress was included so all I had to do was think of a way to use this blackmail and then go there with the five virtuosos at the time Isogai was supposed to have a shift.

It was actually easy, getting them to agree to my challenge in the sport festival.

And quite hilarious as well, especially since there were more horrified faces to look at. His friends were standing behind him as in the _we support you_ way, yet standing was all they could do. Because although I admittedly was using this situation to serve my own selfish purposes, it was still a fact that the blackhead had violated the school rules twice. I, instead of reporting him right away, merely gave him a second chance.

Now that I noticed, Karma wasn't among them.

But that didn't mean I didn't see him soon after.

"What's the meaning of this?" a certain redhead hissed into my face after he not-so-gently dragged me off the road into some dirty forgotten corner, pinning me to the wall.

"Hello, Karma. What exactly do you mean?" I remained stoic, not really in the mood for his childish displays of emotional disruptions.

"Blackmailing Isogai like that? What do you want?" he went straight to the topic.

"Oh, you ignore me for two weeks straight and suddenly, when one of the trashes from your class is in trouble, finally approach me?" raising an eyebrow, I snorted, "How convenient."

"I didn't-" he did, but anyway, "That's not the point. You know Isogai's family has financial problems and that he _needs_ the work. He's a good person and as far as I know, hasn't done anything to you that would make you want to complicate his life."

"That's right, but don't forget that I am a student council president. I watch over students and make sure no rules are broken,"

That was the truth.

"Class E has never been of any interest to you," the redhead bit his lip.

"Maybe it started being when you became part of it,"

"Oh, so now it's _my_ fault?"

"I didn't say that"

My younger brother rolled his eyes and took a step back:

"Exactly, you never say anything,"

"And you do?"

We stayed staring at each other for a while, neither of us willing to back down. We knew this staring contest would have no end if one of us didn't back down, but the point was - we both knew we were right. He was avoiding me, I was using Isogai as a way to get to him and my position back.

"If you're being bitter, stop it," In the end, the boy ordered. How funny he thought he could do that.

"I am not. I'm merely carrying out my responsibilites," I broke away from him and took a step forward. However, in that very moment, everything darkened and I felt my knees buckling. Luckily it was quickly over and before I hit the ground, I was back to senses, though feeling a hand gripping my arm.

"Wha- Are you o-" Karma suddenly switched from accusive to panicked.

I didn't want to deal with this though. Not now. Not ever.

"Yes, now let go of me," I cut him off.

He did not.

"Stop with this all, Gakushuu. There is absolutely no reason for you to complicate the matter anymore, it's not like you even have the energy to," he urged me and I recognized concern behind those golden orbs.

"This conversation is over, Karma. I have lots of work to do."

With that, I broke away from him and went off to wherever it was I was initially headed to.

"Lots of work, which _you_ have brought upon yourself," he shouted after me, but was only met with the sight of my back and silence.

As if I didn't know that.

* * *

Including exchange students in the pole-toppling was a precaution.

Of course, my class was elite among elites as far as studies were concerned, but sports were slightly different. In this area, I was well aware that the opposing team had an upper hand - first of all, their classroom was on a _mountain,_ climbing that thing every day twice had to improve stamina. Secondly, from what I have seen, they had experience parkouring and fighting as well (no, I did not buy Shiota's _I took self-defense courses_ excuse). So even if we had an advantage in number, I did not intend to overlook this risk.

 _"Are you alright, Gakushuu?"_ A man to my left suddenly asked and I cringed at the sound of him saying my first name with his american-english accent.

 _"Asano, call me Asano. Unless we are really close, we call each other our last names in Japan,"_ I explained to Kevin, one of the exchange students who were arrived just a while ago.

 _"Alright, Asano,"_ he nodded. _"Well? Are you?"_

The question struck me as I didn't really get what he was asking about. Then it clicked.

 _"Yes, why shouldn't I?"_

 _"It's just... you get lost in thoughts a lot,"_

 _"Do I? Haha, thanks for worrying"_ I laughed it off, _"I'm alright,"_

Well, if emotionally dead and physically exhausted counted as fine? Oh yeah, it did, because I was still capable of walking and speaking.

 _"You look tired,"_ Kevin stated and it was quite a surprise for me to know that even this guy who was more muscles than heart or brain, could actually be perceptive and gentle.

I might have stared at him for too long, because he started fidgeting and eyeing the floor.

To be honest, I wanted to unbottle all the things that were troubling me. The dangerous zone between me and Karma, my pride, which I was so desperate to keep, my fears of being looked down on and the toll it was taking on me. I was suffocating under this pressure and was very well aware of it, as well as of the fact it would at some point become unbearable. Unbearable enough for me to completely shut down or do things I should not.

And there would be no one to help.

Kevin was probably the only one I could try to talk to now since he was different than the students in this school, his upbringing playing a part in it - focused on feelings and freedom of an individual instead of success alone. But there again, I had to stick to my role of the strong, flawless ruler and showing weakness was out of question, especially if I wanted to remain respected.

 _"I might have been skipping on sleep lately, but that's really it,"_ In the end, I backed down with the ridiculous idea of opening up to anyone - how could I even _think_ of that - giving him a smile.

 _"Okay, then once we win this competition, get plenty of sleep dude,"_ the blond showed me a thumbs up and I nodded, agreeing.

Which would have been perfect.

If it weren't for the fact that we _did not win._

"Anyone can see that, by some miracle, the E team won a battle, that was clearly not in their favour." My father stated coldly, sitting in his chair like he always did, only this time not even once looking into my face. I have disappointed him too much for him to even acknowledge my presence.

And I didn't dare move. I didn't even dare wince, let alone speak up or anyhow draw attention to myself.

"In short, you got owned."

Even breathing was hard. Every time I tried to inhale, my lungs felt hollow, empty, as though I had a hole in them. Trying to calm myself was no good either - not even counting the seconds of breathing in, holding in, breathing out, not even thinking of mathematical equations, nor replaying pleasant things in my head - it didn't help. My mind was overtaken by that unreadable stare of the chairman, his mocking and cold words that, by every moment, got more and more dangerous. I felt mortified to the point my vision and the whole world swam, yet I _couldn't_ let anything show. Not if I wanted to survive this.

While the man was carrying on recapitulating the event and emphasizing all the _mistakes_ I have done, I maintained a neutral look, fixed on him, although deep inside, I was about to have a panic attack or something of that sort.

I felt _ashamed,_ first and foremost. Of losing to the E's, of not being capable to lead my team to the victory. I could have done better. I _should_ have done better. What of an Ace was I if I couldn't make use of all the pawns, all the abilities we had disposal? What kind of Ace fails to live up to their names?! This was unacceptable. It was my fault, I knew - I should have thought of all the circumenstances, I ought have been quicker, more flexible.

And now, I realized just how useless and far from "good enough" I was - in front of this man, Asano Gakuho, my existence meant absolutely nothing. He didn't forget to remind me, of course, and it fueled all the misery and self-hatred towards myself.

"You're not fit to be a leader."

He said it monotonously, or at least so it sounded, but I knew that tone just far too well. "Disappointed" wasn't anywhere near the right term. The best I could describe it was downgrading, disdainful and disgusted. His voice gave out nothing but those eyes - those burning eyes - were screaming and I could see them wondering how in the hell could such a failure, such a _weakling_ like _me_ be _his_ son.

But I remained motionless, only accepting all the statements he made.

Maybe, even agreeing.

Either way, I only wished he would finish quick and then let us go. Because the longer I was in here, the harder it was to keep the facade. This room might have been spacious, but in his presence, I was suffocating.

Out of blue, someone on my right spoke up: _"Chief Director, your son is extremely capable."_

It was about three seconds later that my head proccessed what Kevin was doing. He tried to cover for me. He was going against the principal.

 _"Kevin, stop it!"_ I ordered, not so perfectly concealing the panic in my voice.

And yet, the American didn't listen. He stubbornly carried on and I was unconsciously starting to wonder whether to call the ambulance or not.

 _"As a father, you should tell him that there's a lot he can learn from losing,"_ he said with all conviction - how cute of those _'free'_ Americans and the whole western word for that matter - so supportive, optimistic, believing that everybody is important and of the same worth. Here though, and at this school especially, resistance was harshly punished.

Therefore, this wasn't a good idea. I was about to tell him to shut it and apologize to the chairman, but the adult was way too quick to react. It seems I must have angered him greatly for he would usually just laugh it off or wait for me to lecture the ignorants.

 _"I see... your little opinion is quite moving, Kevin. Can you help me learn as well? If I were to lose, I might be able to learn from that loss,"_ that wasn't only sarcasm, the threat was apparent. _"All four at once, please."_

And those _idiots_ got provoked. They all attacked without hesitation, sure of that they would no problem take the old man down. Oh how wrong they were. How very, very, _very_ wrong they were.

My father wasn't a human.

He was a monster.

It didn't even take one minute. Half of that minute he let them all try to hit him but soon he got tired of their vain attempts and striked back, punching, kicking, letting blood gush out and leaving them on the ground in their own body fluids, groaning, begging for mercy. My own knees buckled and I hit the wall, staring in horror at the scene.

The principal seemed to enjoy it, he seemed so happy to show _me_ what it really meant to "learn from loss".

No matter what, my father would never touch me. Never. Not even once. No matter how happy, no matter how mad, he never went further than give me a speech. Or a small show - this being one of them. It was more scary than anything else, the fact that although he kept his distance from me, he was so much of an influence. That he could control my life, my mind, that he could do anything he wanted. It was scary to see all he was able to do, all he wanted me to do and to be.

Without him ever having to touch me.

When I was small, I thought his coldness was sad and frustrating. That his attitude meant hatred, that he didn't care about me.

Now I only wish that was true. He cared too much. So much he was willing to kill people, to traumatize me, teaching me in the worst ways possible. If he really did not have any interest in me, I would be just another of his pawns, free from all the terror and expectations. Or maybe he would just beat me up one day and let me die.

"Say, Asano-kun," he surprised me by putting a hand on the wall, caging me in. "if you lost, then why isn't the frustration eating you alive?"

The images of demons, of monsters started mingling with his face and I soon realized that it wasn't those images I was afraid of. I was afraid of the man here only.

"Why, after all the failures you have made - are you still no good?" he left it lingering in the air, his poisonous gaze burning.

My hands were in a fist so tight the nails started digging into the skin, covering my palm blood. It was a good feeling, a small distraction from this monster in front of me. The one that could kill me with one sight.

The man of course noticed that and he slowly shook his head in disapproval, sighing. Then he stood up, looked around and callously declared: "You are dismissed, Asano-kun. Leave those here," he nodded towards the frightened, injured students around, "-I still have some matters I want to discuss with them."

And I silently complied, making my way out of the office. The next five minutes when I walked in the halls were dull and somewhat foggy but once I got into my empty homeroom, and locked it from the inside, I collapsed to the ground and struggled to keep my sanity.

Slow deep breath in, hold for 7 seconds, slowly breathe out. With closed eyes, I repeated this sequence and tried to calm myself with anything at all. Math. Science. All the literature quotes and paragraphs I had to learn by heart. It was no good, anything to do with school was making it even harder to forget the lecture I just received.

Not even thinking of the fun times with Karma helped. It reminded me that he and that class I so despised beat me today. I could still see him smugly grinning when I fell off that pole and for the first time, it entered my mind that even he - my dear little brother - was out to get me. That there was absolutely no one in this world I could trust.

I hit my head hard with the wall, feeling tears building up.

Really?

Not even Karma anymore?

Knowing that no matter how much I tried, I still wouldn't be alright, I got up and headed to the restroom where I washed away the blood from my hands. The red crescend imprints of my fingernails stung, but they didn't bleed a lot. Yet I wished they would, it would distract me enough to calm down. After five minutes, they were more or less fine so I didn't bother use bandage or bandaid.

I felt lightheaded and nauseus, but did not let myself succumb to such pitiful and weak state. Instead, I ran the water down the back of my neck, letting the coolness numb me.

Ten minutes later and I was fine.

As fine as I could be, but fine enough to keep pretending, to meet the E-class and my younger brother's triumphant grins, to withstand the stares from my classmates and not break down.

Not fine enough to keep myself off the roof.

* * *

 **Aaaaand? What's Asano going to do? What's happening? Does ANYOEN KNOW? COZ I CERTAINLY DON'T?! O.O**


	23. Chapter 23

**Remember how I said I don't know what's happening? I lied. I do. BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT HAHAHA HELP ME *CRYING***

* * *

Third person's P.O.V.

He knew something was wrong the moment he saw his brother walk away. Or rather, the moment he saw those red imprints on his palms. Gakushuu had the habit of clenching his fists when feeling distressed. And with his inhuman strength, it usually resulted in his nails digging into the flesh and visibly leaving a mark there.

His friends were already going home, but Karma stayed - or waited - until there was no one to see him frantically searching for his older brother. Something has happened and it didn't feel good. Was it because of him losing the competition? Did the chairman hurt him?!

It scared the redhead to think of such scenario, even though he knew that their father had the policy of never getting violent or into physical contact with Gakushuu, yet no one could say for sure. This was Asano Gakuho they were talking about, after all, the monstrous chairman with apparently no feelings at all.

Karma was pretty sure it wouldn't work, but he tried to call his brother. And just as he expected, no one answered.

"C'mon, where are you?!" he tried to call again because seriously - the idiot never had his phone on silent mode, nor did he forget it anywhere. Never. He was too neat and careful to do that. The fact was that he just chose not to pick up.

 _To: Ugh why_

 _Where are you?_

Giving up, he texted in Latin instead and then took a deep breath in, calming down his thoughts. Maybe he was just overreacting again, maybe there was absolutely no need for him to be this anxious.

Haha, the joke was on him. He looked up at the sky and there he was, his big brother, sitting on the fucking edge of our rooftop.

Hahaha.

Fuck.

Did this run in the family?

He hoped not. Because right now there would be no Koro-sensei to save the boy from the fall.

Literally racing all the way up to the main building's top floor and then climbing through the fences to get to the roof, he yelled out: "YOU IDIOT!"

And then almost collapsed because that was literally 485 stairs without stopping for a second.

It would be a lie to say that Asano didn't feel amused. But laughing at this very moment would be kind of inappropriate.

After a small while, Karma finally wheezed out whatever it was that he wanted to say:"Whatever it is that you're doing, stop and step down here,"

How sweet it was of him to sound so worried. It almost made the older one want to push this situation and mess with the redhead for a bit longer. However, he just didn't feel up to it.

"If you think I intend to jump, then no, I don't. I just need some fresh air and quiet," he honestly answered and then returned his gaze to the front where the sun was starting to set, painting everything in its golden light. It was mesmerizing. Almost soothing.

"You can get fresh air even if you step down, you know that?" His brother however interrupted.

"But the quiet is gone,"

"Quiet is honestly the last thing you need right now," Karma cut him off impatiently.

"How do you know," the boy snorted.

"I just do, now get your ass here and let's talk it out,"

Sighing, the strawberry blonde complied and hopped back, walking up to his younger brother. Appearing absolutely unfazed, he sighed: "Satisfied?"

"What were you even doing here in the first place?"

"As I said, I wanted some peace. Good job on messing that up," he said, but when he saw that the latter was still frowning, added: "If I wanted to jump, I would have been dead twenty minutes ago,"

He had a point, but as convincing as Gakushuu sounded, Karma learned long ago that trusting a word he uttered (especially after something unusual or concerning happening) was a big mistake. The student council president was stubborn, an egghead that valued pride - his _strength -_ over anything else. And that so called 'strength' of his also became his ultimate downfall.

"Let's go to my place," the redhead decided, not liking the idea of standing who knows how high up from the ground with his obviously burnt out brother.

"No,"

It was almost painful to hear his dull voice and _if_ he even managed to catch a glance of Gakushuu's eyes, they radiated such amount of helplessness it made the redhead want to do nothing but hug him so tight his brother would suffocate.

But it wasn't hard to see that the student council did not want to accept _his_ help right now. Though as for why-

Why, indeed?

Was it because it was the E-class that beat him?

Or because it was _Karma's_ class that beat him?

"Come on," he urged the older boy again, this time trying to take his hand.

Asano's reflexes didn't disappoint though and he immediately pulled back. His lips were already forming the favorite word _No,_ but his whole person was screaming _yes,_ because he knew he couldn't do this alone, he didn't want to be alone, because Karma was the last person he could at least _hope_ to be able to help.

The strawberry blonde felt powerless. He couldn't comprehend what was wrong - why was he breaking down, why did his ears ring so much, why did his eyes sting-

No, he wasn't crying.

But he still felt like a weakling.

"Okay, that's enough," Karma snapped, his voice cracking from sheer worry and despair at the sight. He spared two seconds to wrap his arms around his brother in a comforting manner but let go right away, knowing that sugar coating things never really worked.

"We are going home right now and I'm willing to beat you unconscious and drag you there if you try to resist," he declared.

Thankfully, Asano didn't put up any fight.

"Did you meet the chairman?" the redhead asked as they stopped at the lockers for the latter to take his stuff.

"Mmm," was the only thing the boy said.

"You aren't hurt, are you?"

"No,"

And their conversation died right then. It wasn't like Asano was making it any better with his one-word answers.

But that was fine. All that Karma needed for the time being was for his brother to walk and be anyhow responsive. Which he was.

However, once they found themselves in the safety of Karma's house, one that had no parents, no people to see them, it was a different story.

"I'm skipping school tomorrow, Gakushuu. You should too," he said as he threw all the bags to the ground and lead his brother to the living room sofa.

It's that rare time when skipping school isn't his mean of escape from boring lectures - it's a suggestion, a compromise he wishes to make with the person in front of him.

A tiny chuckle escaped the student council president's lips, though it was more akin to a cry.

"No, I can't," he stated and the simplicity of those words frustrated Karma to no end.

"I'm telling you this as someone who cares about you," he stopped to search for the amethyst eyes, "Stay at my place and get a hang of yourself,"

At that, the strawberry blonde sarcastically asked: "Why the sudden kindness? Weren't you spitting hateful accusations just a while ago and laughing in triumph over my loss?"

Karma felt anger building up inside him - wasn't it _his_ fault, to begin with? He shouldn't have gone into a conflict with class E, he shouldn't have threatened to expel Isogai. The pole-topping was his idea, he even took the precaution of involving exchange students! And when Asano got what he and his whole snobbish class deserved, he went and placed the blame on him?

Why was he even trying to help this asshole?

"I have told you before, most of the problems you have were brought upon you by no one but yourself," he declared just for the sake of saying it, "But you are right. I was happy when we won. And that's because we showed the whole school as well as you that we aren't weak. We aren't the trash you deem us to be. We have a will, we can be strong when we want to and one day, we will make sure to show you all of that."

It was hard to read Asano's face, but Karma heard no spite in his voice: "That's nice to know,"

The redhead felt as though he needed to explain further: "You might not really understand the concept of the word, but they are my _friends._ They are important to me and I am prepared to defend them if needed. This time, it was you who pulled the trigger."

"Hah, indeed. You still are part of the E-class after all. And I'm part of the A-class. I guess that fact won't change. So is there even any point?"

He was talking about their connection as brothers.

He was saying they didn't have a chance.

After all that they went through, how could he do that?

"Do you really believe that?" Karma asked and the hurt was apparent from both his expression and tone.

Asano wanted to slap himself for uttering that nonsense. Of course he didn't. No matter what, his brother was still the only one he cared so much about. His brother was the only one he didn't want to give up on. Yet from the very beginning of this conversation, he felt as though there was a storm inside him, a storm that waited for its target and then finally released itself in the form of hurtful words, destructive words, words that just flowed out of his mouth and wanted to attack anyone at all - even if that anyone was Karma.

He was doing it again.

Breaking them apart.

"No," he sighed in defeat, palms rubbing his eyes, "No, I don't. I'm just a shit of an older brother. I'm just sick and tired of everything and I need someone to slap me,"

"Can I slap you?" the redhead eagerly asked.

"No," the boy snapped, giving him a nasty look.

"Then are we done?" Karma stopped with the joking.

Relieved, the strawberry blonde nodded: "Yeah," and immediately added: "Sorry,"

"Gods, hearing you of all people saying the word 'sorry' is just so weird."

* * *

Gakushuu was lying on Karma's bed while the other was downstairs, making tea. The younger one insisted of him taking a nap or something because _honestly, you look like death, how long have you been awake?_

Only two days, for fuck's sake. That wasn't anything unusual. But lately, he has been skipping on sleep more often than he should. That would explain the lethargy he has been fighting off for the past few days.

Well, a nap really didn't sound that bad.

Such a shame there was already the sound of a door opening, revealing red hair.

"Why the fuck are you still up," was the first thing he received.

"Watch your language, kid," he warned the boy.

"Okay, fine - why the fucking fuck are you still fucking up you fuck,"

At that, Asano abruptly sat up and threw a pillow at the latter, not really caring that he was currently holding two mugs of a steaming hot tea. All that he however got was a chuckle and mischievous grin.

"Well, I hope you let out all your rampage and can now finally have a peaceful chat with me," Karma gleefully said as he sat down, handing one of the cups to the other.

"Peace does not sit that well with two of us,"

"Touché," he shrugged. "But well, I still want to talk with you,"

Gakushuu wouldn't expect anything else. Of course the redhead would love to go into _every detail_ about what has happened in the chairman's office, but it would be better for him not to know.

He stared at his tea for a while.

"You didn't put mustard or wasabi into it, did you?" he suddenly queried, eyeing his brother.

"What? No," he immediately denied, "And stop changing the subject,"

"I'm not, I'm just being cautious," he finally took a sip.

Herbal tea. He liked herbal tea. But this one tasted weird.

"Then tell me-"

"I don't want to talk about it Karma," he cut the boy off, staring into those golden orbs stubbornly, "I don't want to talk about it for various _good_ reasons, not because I am being angsty or anything. So don't dig into the matter anymore."

Thankfully, the redhead raised his hands in the 'I give up' manner and let it be. Though he did not drop the worry wart attitude: "Anyway, I was serious before. Skip school tomorrow,"

Asano wished he could drown in the tea he was drinking so that he wouldn't have to answer that. But the latter was still waiting for an answer.

"Karma, I..." his voice trailed off, "Trust me, I'd love to and I honestly don't feel like ever returning to school or my house for that matter, but you have to understand that my position does not allow me to skip a single day, especially after what happened today,"

"Your position or pride?"

"Both. And don't you dare judge me, you are just the same,"

"I know that," he admitted, "but try to relax a bit while you are at my place at least,"

Surprisingly, he really did want to. Or at least his body did. Stupid eyelids, he hated them for suddenly getting so heavy.

"I still have stuff to do," he tried to stand his ground.

"If you mean the two tons of paper I saw you stuffing into your bag, then forget it," Karma crossed his arms.

"You can't really tell me what to do," Asano argued, but his mind was getting pretty hazy at that point. Damn, was the fatigue finally catching up to him?

Seeing that his brother was still fighting off the sleepiness, Karma excused himself to the toilet, pretty sure that if he left Gakushuu alone for some time, he'd eventually nod off.

Which, just as he predicted, happened.

Seven minutes later, he returned to the room to find the strawberry blonde leaning on the wall, his head dropped, breathing steadily. Moving silently in order not to wake him up, he carefully lay him flat on the bed and covered him in the sheets, putting Gakushuu's mug next to his on the drawer.

"Well, time to get to work," he whispered to himself as he walked down the stairs to fetch their bags.

This was going to be a pain.

* * *

When Asano woke up, it was already dark outside, the only source of light being Karma's lamp. Said boy was sitting by his table, focusing on-

"Are you _studying_?" The strawberry blonde gasped in shock at the sight.

The redhead almost jumped out of his skin. He turned to the boy who sat up, trying to pinpoint when exactly it was that he fell asleep.

"No, of course not," Karma answered with a funny frown.

"You're doing homework," Asano pointed at the open book.

"Not mine,"

"What the hell," he already wanted to stand up but found his legs tangled in the blanket, "why are you doing _my_ stuff?!"

"More importantly, Gakushuu, why is there so much of this student council shit?!" he pointed at the bunch of paper on his left, all of which were - needless to say - finished.

"It piled up from yesterday, I couldn't bring myself to do it," he answered, slightly confused. His head was still fuzzy from sleep and it was kind of unbelievable to think that Karma would actually do something that required effort - for someone else, not to mention.

"Dude, I wouldn't be able to bring myself to do this at all, _holy cow,"_

"Then don't, goddamn it-" he successfully stood up this time, snatching the paper away.

Fortunately for him, Karma anticipated that the boy would protest and try to retrieve it, so he lifted his pen in advance in order to prevent any unwanted ink stains or scrawls.

"Well, it's almost done anyway, so I'm leaving the rest to you," the redhead stood up, stretching his arms with a yawn. Then he turned at the latter, a sour expression on his face: "Why the frickity frack are you deliberately taking this much on yourself? If I had to do this every time I'd literally kill a person,"

"Shut up," Gakushuu snapped while going through all the paper sheets and his exercise books in absolute horror.

"Don't worry, it's all correct. And I made sure to write in the same style as you do,"

"Impossible, your handwriting is anything but legible."

Karma would argue about that. He took out one example of Asano's handwriting and compared it to his on one of the paperwork he did: "See for yourself."

"What the hell," the student council president widened his eyes. Indeed, there was almost no difference between the two. What the hell. What the _hell._

"I can write nicely if I want to. The only problem is that most of the time, I don't want to."

Thank god he didn't because this way he could fake so many significant documents, Asano's essays or homework and then give it to his teachers and Asano's whole student life would become a living hell.

This was too much for him.

He sighed, absentmindedly reaching for the cup of Karma's table due to his desert-like dry throat. He took a sip of the (disgustingly) cold tea, only to realize:

"This isn't mine,"

Confused, the redhead titled his head: "Yeah, that's my cup, so?"

"Yours tastes like a normal herbal tea. Mine was weird,"

 _Shit,_ Karma thought.

And shit indeed, because Gakushuu's brain caught up quickly. He did wonder how he could have fallen asleep that easily.

"Did you _drug_ me?"


	24. Chapter 24

**Hi Guys! I know, it has been such a long time... and I am very sorry.**

 **To be frank, I just stopped writing. Nothing bad happened, I didn't get into trouble, I just lost the motivation to sit and write down any ideas. It went on for so long that I no longer even had the guts to do so because I must have disappointed you guys by suddenly disappearing. It is unfair towards you.**

 **However, I noticed that despite that fact, there were still people reading it, wanting more and I just realized that it can't be that late yet? I can still carry on and maybe this time, be more responsible.**

 **This chapter is very short, I wrote it down just so that I could get back to it, no matter how small the step.**

 **So once again, I apologize for not updating and hope that you can forgive me.**

* * *

Asano's P.O.V.

That night, I slept over at Karma's. Though this time, there was no magical sleeping tea involved, just the power of chasing that shit for 20 minutes straight, combined with fatigue.

However, staying over without any explanation for the chairman - well, I was afraid it wasn't the best idea. But I had to - mainly because I didn't want to come home and face the man, mainly because being with my younger brother gave me at least some sense of safety and belonging.

I had expected my father to be standing in the hall when I would come home, his eyes scanning me and searching for anything that would explain where I have been the whole night. I expected the whole hell to come down because he hated not knowing, especially when it came to _me._

But he didn't do anything.

Surprisingly, he didn't even say a word when I returned after school, that being 17 hours since he had last seen me. I just went to fetch my guitar for an upcoming lesson. And all I got was a look, a dead one, one that didn't bear _anything_ behind.

I had no idea what to make of it - was that a good sign? Not possible. It felt like calm before a storm. But why? Has my loss in that match really triggered him that much? Has he entirely given up on me?

I decided not to dwell on it. After all, this silence was still better than his remarks about my worthlessness. And honestly, I was afraid of finding out.

So I ignored this his out-of-character behavior.

The second time he had shown a passive attitude about my actions in general, I started to suspect he wasn't, in fact, ignoring me. It felt like he was watching me. More than ever. Like a shadow that followed me with each step.

That wasn't good. Having been living the entirety of 15 years of my life with him, my instincts were trained well enough for me to know when I was being observed.

And right now, standing in front of the school gates, I could feel his stare stabbing me into the back of my skull. I always thought that the "cold chills" characters in movies claimed to experience were just an exaggeration, but now, nothing could describe it better. Even though he can't have been anywhere but in his office, hundreds of meters away from me, concrete walls and bulletproof glass windows between us - I just knew.

He was trying to find something out and I was afraid that _something_ could turn out to be my _everything._

Calmly walking out of the school premises, I headed to my favorite caffeé to study, still aware of the eyes watching me. When I was far enough to feel safer, I took out my phone and immediately texted Karma:

 _To: Lazy shit_

 _Subject: Trouble?_

 _Text: Don't go near me. Chairman's acting weird._

And I deleted it right away. Seemed like a spy move or something but honestly, better safe than sorry.

I arrived at the caffeé about five minutes later. As always, there were many people and mainly students, though from different schools (that's why I preferred it) sitting with their mugs and desserts, some reading a book, others talking with friends. I found my usual spot on the second floor, the one where very few go, right next to a window which provided me with a nice view of the street down below. It was a lovely place indeed, with the gentle music playing, the murmurs and laughs of other customers acting like the white noise which was perfect for me to concentrate.

Around were many bookshelves with a great variety of literature, from non-fiction, encyclopedias, dictionaries to classics such as the Big Gatsby from Fitzgerald, as well as poems. I noticed a collection of poems by Paul Verlaine and immediately picked it up in curiosity. Some time ago I stumbled upon one of his works "Romances sans paroles" (I think it translates to Songs without words) when I was learning French and I liked it more than I initially thought.

There was one verse that stuck with me until now. It was the line "Et puis voici mon coeur qui ne bat que pour vous", which meant "And here is my heart, which beats only for you".

I found those words so beautiful I committed them to my memory just after reading them for the first time. I don't know why it touched me so much - there was not a girl, not a person - romantically nor platonically - that I really felt about in this way, in this delicate, passionate way. It seemed like something so surreal, so impossible. There was the kind of love for which one would kill. For which one would die. That's the love I shared with Karma. But the kind of love that made you want to live, the kind of love which gave you some purpose - I didn't have that. Not even with him. There was nothing, no one that made me want to live.

 _My heart, which beats only for you_

Could there really ever be someone who would make my heart _want_ to beat?

I could never hope.

Out of blue, there was someone tapping my shoulder and I had to restrain myself in order not to deck the person behind me in sheer panic. Luckily enough I didn't do that because when I turned around, a smiling waitress greeted me.

"I'm sorry for interrupting," she said after noticing the book in my hand, "Would you like to order anything?"

Nodding, I returned the smile: "Yes, hot chocolate with s'mores and a piece of strawberry shortcake please."

After noting it down, she returned downstairs, taking care of the order. I snapped out of my thoughts and put the book down, taking a seat and pulling out my textbooks. There was just enough work to do and if I wanted to sleep peacefully for the next two days, I had to finish them right away.

And as if the heavens didn't want me to even _start, my_ phone screen lightened up, drawing my attention.

I received a text from none other than my younger brother. His reply was just:

 _K, gl. Gonna b lonely :((( LOL JK I hate ur guts._

And then there were two rows of laughing emojis.

Seriously, such a kid.


	25. Chapter 25

**AYO, UPDATE! I'm sorry for the wait :)**

 **Thank you all so much for the support, I really couldn't believe that there was still someone who cared about this story. I'm not abandoning this story. Love you all :)**

 **This takes place after the school festival where the E-class improvises and uses the mountain's resources to open a restaurant, which becomes a huge success.**

* * *

Asano would never admit it, but he was starting to _respect_ the E class.

Yes, he still hated the thought of being in the same room with them. Yes, he still couldn't get rid of his tendency to feel repulsed by them. But was that really him in the first place? Or was it the ideology his father taught him?

He glared at the results of the school festival for five minutes straight, thinking about this and this only.

 _1\. place Jr. High 3-A_

 _2\. place High 3-A_

 _3\. place Jr. High 3-E_

He, not even in his wildest dreams, would have never imagined that the E class would be this successful. They literally had _no_ support from the school, sponsors or anyone for that matter when they started up. They didn't even have a budget. The placement of their classroom was ridiculously inconvenient and _yet_ they managed to attract a crazy number of customers.

After seeing their capabilities in the pole-topping competition, he expected they would find a way to adapt.

 _But to this point?_

No.

Not even his class would have been able to think of something that innovative and genius. Let alone execute it.

And that's what made him think again.

Why did he hate the E class?

Was it because of their grades? But those have improved significantly. He even suspected that some individuals were even more useful and smarter than a majority of students in other, "better" classes.

Not even their behavior could be criticized. There was that incident with Isogai and his part-time job and of course, Karma and his violent tendencies - but honestly? Both of them were doing it for good reasons. Isogai needed the money to take care of his family. Karma never got into a fight unless it was to protect someone else.

And that's what the E-class always did. They protected and took care of their own. That itself was a truly strange concept to Asano. He has always been taught that caring was a weakness. He has been taught to trust himself only and to use others in order to benefit. He followed the chairman's footsteps, learning quick, making connections when needed, using them yet keeping a distance. It was what he saw every day - an absurdly tenacious and cold man standing high, wearing smiles like masks, none of them real but all of them convincing. He saw a man who could wrap anyone around his finger, make them dance round and round while they believed it was their own idea. He saw a man with no friends, only minions, and enemies because he allowed no weaknesses and no failures.

That was the person he was taught by and told to become. Or rather, what he was made to become.

And he tried. He always tried so hard to be like that despite knowing that it wasn't possible. Because he wasn't emotionless like his father. Because at the end of the day, no matter how many competitions he won, no matter how many people he looked down on in disdain, there was still that one person with a special place in his heart. And no matter how old he was, he still remembered the innocent, adorable golden eyes of his baby brother that looked at him so tenderly, looking for guidance, for _love_ when there was no family, no parents, just the two of them.

He could never deny it to him. Not then, not now, not ever, it seems.

"The E class sure is persistent," Ren, suddenly appearing on the boy's right side, stated, pulling him away from his thoughts. His tone lacked the usual annoyance, sounding concerned more than anything else.

"Don't you think they're kind of... catching up?" Seo laughed and Gakushuu I didn't know him, he'd dare say he did so out of nervosity.

"We still won though," the brunette brushed it off. Then he looked at his genius friend, putting a hand on his shoulder as if to assure him, "and as long as it is you, Asano, who leads us, we will always win in the end. Isn't that right?"

The strawberry blonde didn't waste a second to agree though his mind was once again wandering.

Why was Ren suddenly being so supportive? How did he even know that the son of the chairman, the council president, genius, leader - basically the only one who was rightfully and invariably confident in everything he did - that he was now feeling anything but confident?

The hand on his shoulder was still there, the firm hold somehow making Asano feel more grounded.

He never thought about it nor did he ever before care, but now he was starting to realize that maybe, the people he considered minions - they were more than just pawns. That maybe to him, Ren wasn't just an instrument to achieve his goals anymore and that to Ren, Asano was no longer just an untouchable authority.

When did that happen?

More importantly, what were they now, then?

He turned towards the four virtuosos, deciding to find out right away because if he didn't, it wouldn't let him sleep.

"Why do believe in me so much? Is it because of my academic success?" he asked, his voice almost accusatory.

The question took all of them aback, no doubt, but they weren't at a lost for words. Nor did they appear guilty, which surprised the strawberry blonde.

"Because we know you," Ren simply answered, his smile welcoming, "We know you care and that you do your best."

Now it was Asano who didn't know what to say. He definitely didn't expect _that_.

"Yeah, you are hella smart, _genius smart_ and so awesome in everything. It's no doubt everyone admires you," the other three added.

This, he expected. Praises, compliments - that's what he dealt with every day.

But Ren's response stuck with him because it didn't have anything to do with his grades or with his athletic capabilities. Ren's reason for staying was _Asano_ himself, not his achievements. And that was... that was new.

But what did it mean?

He pondered about it the whole afternoon, even when they were supposed to clean up after the festival and even when they could go home already. Before he could leave though, his fellow classmate stopped him in his tracks.

"Hey, Asano, wanna grab a drink or something?" Ren asked casually despite it being the first time he ever did something like this. Usually, when they hanged out, it was all five of them and as a general rule, only to study.

"Uh," the boy mentally ran through all the tasks that awaited him, weighed down his options and in the end decided that he had to satisfy his curiosity no matter what. It wasn't every day, after all, that someone would ask him to actually hang out - not study or tutor - just out of nowhere.

"Yeah, sure," he offered a smile which might have put the other at ease, "just let me get my bag,"

And they were off in five minutes.

They agreed on the usual coffee shop (the one Asano visited a few days ago). The walk there wasn't awkward, Asano knew how to keep a conversation going after all. Moreover, Ren was naturally gifted when it came to speaking with people. That guy could be talking about pineapples and still make it sound pleasant and interesting. Yet both of them were aware of the invisible barrier, a particular border none of them dared to cross.

It was only when they sat down, waiting for their order to come, that the silence befell on them. Asano didn't try to break it out of politeness in the beginning - Ren looked to be struggling with words for once, glancing up and down insecurely.

"Is there something you want to talk about with me?" the student council president offered a helping hand in the end though, which the other gratefully accepted.

"Yeah," the brunet nodded, slightly relaxing, "it's been on my mind for some time now but I never knew whether to bring it up."

Now that could be interesting. Asano thought about how to reply.

"Why so?" in the end, he asked.

"Because it seemed that I was the only one who thought that way," Ren shrugged.

"What changed?"

"You,"

At this, Asano straightened up, brows slightly furrowed in confusion.

Has he changed? How? Was that... good or bad?

"What do you mean?" the boy did his best to sound nonchalant despite the anticipation burning him inside out.

Once again, Ren took longer than usual to answer.

"It's kind of hard to explain. I guess it's more about your attitude and aura than anything else," he started, obviously out of his comfort zone. After all, this was Asano Gakushuu he was speaking to. More importantly, it was Asano Gakushuu he was trying to speak like _a person_ to. Like one normal person to another, rather than a subordinate to their superior. But at this point, seeing who the strawberry blonde was becoming, Ren wanted to believe that it would be alright.

"You have been our strong, fearless leader since forever. And we - I - never doubted you. In fact, I've always admired you so much, I've always seen you like this... like this _role model,_ someone I wanted to become. And that was, who you were. The perfect, unquestionable yet at the same time distant and untouchable authority, "

"Where are you going with this?" Asano interjected, clearly annoyed. He didn't want to hear this. He didn't want to hear about his perfect self that wasn't even _him._ At least not completely.

"Sorry. I just... it's not that way anymore. Lately, I felt like I was actually looking you in the eye, although not like we were equals because we obviously aren't equals, but like... like you stopped being the stone cold picture perfect. It may have something to do with the... losses against the E class," Ren's voice faltered a bit, "but I can't say it's a bad thing. In fact, it feels like you're growing into a- a better person?"

They both stayed quiet for a while, neither daring to even move.

Ren contemplated his next words while Asano's mind was racing, trying to process what he just heard.

 _A better person?_ He never heard those words in the same sentence with his name. And besides, how could losing make him a better person?

Before he had the chance to figure out what to think of it, Ren finally found the courage to get to the point.

Chin high, eyes warm and hopeful, he started: "I always thought I could only be your follower, someone at your disposal. A pawn. And I was fine with it. I-I really was. But now - it might be bold of me to say - now I believe I could actually become your friend," he declared, "someone who stands beside you... and I'm not the only one."

Anything - and it wasn't much - that Asano had prepared to say at that moment got stuck in his throat. Everything suddenly fell into place.

His thoughts earlier that day, what Ren just told him - it started making sense. And it filled his chest with something unimaginable, something warm and strange, almost like _fondness,_ almost the same like what he felt when he could be a brother to Karma.

 _A weakness,_ he could already hear the chairman saying.

 _Friends, feelings, they are all just weaknesses._

He could hear his father disapproving, see his cruel gaze, feel the distaste. He was, after all, giving in to the very same thing he has always been forced to avoid, to shun, to _hate._ Sympathy. Affection. But he didn't want to do that anymore.

Ren was right. So was Kevin, the American exchange student. Losing did change him. Losing made him change his attitude, see the faults in his doing, it pushed him down from that high horse and helped him realize that no matter how strong he was, he couldn't do everything alone.

It let him see that his father's teaching wasn't who he was. And that he didn't _want_ to be defined by it.

From now on, he wanted to be his own person and carve out his own path.

"Thank you, Ren," Asano finally acknowledged his minio- _friend,_ giving him the most sincere smile, "I- I guess I understand what you're saying,"

The latter nodded, glad.

"And I'd like that. Be friends, I mean. Honestly never thought I could have that," he confessed.

"Yeah, figures," the brunet laughed. Then, something different glinted in his eyes - playfulness? - and he said: "So what about we go and give the staff hell, _friend_? Because it has been 20 minutes and we still don't have our coffees,"

Asano just rolled his eyes in amusement. Neither of them really cared about the order by now and it wasn't like Ren was the type to harass the poor people who worked their butts off.

"You just want to flirt with the girl behind the counter, don't you?" he came to the conclusion.

"But she's hot!"

* * *

The chairman was working late that day so Asano decided to pay his little brother a visit (and anyway, that idiot texted him to come over twice already, something about some really good food he snatched or so). He overcame the paranoia in favour of... doing something he believed was right.

"About time! The noodles are gonna get cold!" the redhead exclaimed dramatically when Asano finally arrived.

The older boy couldn't help but grin, already catching the smell of the said meal. It did, indeed, smell good.

They both sat down and Asano noticed there were actually two bowls - one for him and one for Karma.

"You haven't eaten yet?" he asked, puzzled, "It's seven already,"

"Yeah, I was waiting for you," the redhead answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"You know I could have just not come," he stated plainly.

"You wouldn't do that,"

"I totally would,"

"Then you're an asshole," Karma pouted, already digging into his meal "after all the trouble I went through to let you try our class' specialty! You know, I had to trick my teachers and even come earlier in the morning - and you know how I hate waking up early - to get two portions for free without anyone asking nosy questions!"

The strawberry blond widened his eyes in surprise: "This is the food from E class' restaurant?"

" _My class'_ restaurant. And if you refuse to eat it because of that, _so help me_ -"

"I won't," Gakushuu interrupted him right away, voice even. He grabbed his chopsticks and started eating too.

"Good," the latter said, unsure of what to think because, for some reason, his brother was being way too... nice today. No snarky remarks like he expected. No _'everything_ _from E class reeks of failure'._ He was just sitting there with a calm expression, looking as though he was actually _enjoying_ the food.

"We might not have won, but I still wanted to show you that even though we the E class, we can actually do pretty well," Karma declared, testing the ground.

"I know" the older one surprisingly admitted, looking him in the eyes. And for once, there was no sarcasm, no pretense behind it.

Almost moved, Karma's voice cracked: "You do?"

"Yes," Gakushuu smiled at the boy's sweet delight. He found it almost poetic that it was only when he defied everything he had been taught by his father, when he let himself be compassionate and tolerant, that he could bring real happiness into his and his brother's life.

"Maybe we could talk more about it?" he offered, hesitant.

Karma recovered from his initial shock and when he understood what Gakushuu was saying, he could feel tears building up.

"Yeah," he chuckled, rubbing his eyes _because his brother was accepting him, his brother was finally caring, he finally stopped being so insensitive and arrogant-_

"Yeah, we could."

* * *

 **I hope you liked this chapter! :D**

 **I'm all about character development now and I think that Asano deserves it. It seemed right to me that Ren would be part of that arc because he is, even in the actual series, very close to him. Also, his whole life doesn't revolve around his brother and father only.**

 **Anyway, let's just hope everything works out for them hahahaha ;)**


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